MESAZINE - Issue 2

INDEX

Lettter From The Editor

The Swifties: How Taylor Swift Has Created Her Own Subculture

Report: Media Career Day 2024

Mesazine comfort playlist

Ask the alumni: Barry Hilliard

Meet the professor: Stacey Copeland

Dorothy’s: Behind the Drag

Asked by AI: Rachel van Merwe

Column: Dear Hollywood, Please Stop Copying Broadway

Book Review: The Song of Achilles

Horoscope

Guest Article: How to Survive Research 9 tips by Scott A. Eldridge II

MESA Paris Trip 2024 Collage

Book Review: I Kissed Sarah Wheeler

Queer Dictionary

Queer Favorites

Tukkie Appreciaton Page

Movie Review: All of Us Strangers

Series Review: Mary & George

Pasta Shapes & Pasta 101

Writer’s Club Story: An unexpected encounter

Personality test

Games

Sponsors

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Dearest Gentle Reader,

No, unfortunately this is not a letter written by Lady Whistledown but it’s definitely something as exciting as Bridgerton season 3. Because I’d like to welcome you to the second edition of the MESAZINE. Now that the academic year is over, a break is very much needed. And, what better way to kill some time than by reading interesting content in our magazine?

For this edition, we decided to pick an overall theme. We settled on a theme which emphasises one of MESA’s core values: it doesn’t matter who you are or who you love, everyone matters. That’s why the theme of this edition will be pride! And, of course, pride doesn’t end when pride month in June ends: it’s important to always dedicate attention to these topics (and we don’t pull the same stunt as nearly all the major brands do once pride ends: getting rid of the flag).

So, in this magazine, you will find lots of love! The love that the professors that we’ve interviewed have for their work and research. The love that local drag queen Dorothy Male has for the queer scene in Groningen. The love that our alumni have for the opportunities both the university and MESA has granted them. And, last but not least, the love that we, the editors of the MESAZINE, put into this magazine to make it the best we ever could.

Looking back at the very first year for the MESAZINE, I can’t express how proud I am of what we’ve achieved. Not only did we manage to build this from the ground up, we also put our own mark on it and had loads of fun doing so. I would love to thank my dearest Magazine Club members for their amazing work and optimistic attitude during this process. So, a massive thank you to Ginny, Chris, Jolanda, Eva, and Alexia!

Although it hurts to let our little baby magazine go, I cannot wait to see where the future MESAZINE committee will take it. For now, I hope you have fun reading our magazine!

Love, Kim

By: Alexia Mihalache & Eva Rebecca Swarts

With her latest albums hitting the top of the charts, having officially become a billionaire from her music alone, and her world tour drawing an audience of such a size that it’s boosting the economy, it is not an exaggeration to say that Taylor Swift is taking over the world.

And, at the core of such astronomical success is one thing, the subject of both praise and scrutiny: the Swifties.

Dear reader, join us on a journey through the wonderland of the Swifties, and discover the already long lived happiness of the fandom in their love story with the gorgeous, self-proclaimed anti-hero, Ms. Taylor Swift.

The first time Taylor Swift recorded and released her music was in 2006, when she put out the country single Tim McGraw using MySpace to promote her work. But besides being a tool for her marketing strategy, the online space represented a way to connect with her fans as well. Thus, Taylor’s debut studio album received remarkable attention thanks to her network, selling 40.000 copies in the first week. And so…Baby, let the games begin.

About 6 years later, after having released Fearless and Speak Now, Taylor’s fanbase started to circulate the term “swifties” that connected admirers of her music regardless of their location. In 2017, TAS (i.e. Taylor Alison Swift) Rights Management filed a trademark for the nickname and obtained ownership of it later that year.

Almost synonymous with any content of the singer-songwriter is Swift’s use of easter eggs. For instance, as her fans were eagerly awaiting the release of her newest album The Tortured Poets Department, Swift teamed up with Apple Music by leaving a trail of hidden messages throughout her playlists on the streaming service, that kept the fans enthralled for days. Keeping the Swifties occupied with solving these kinds of puzzles is a clever marketing strategy that Swift has employed in the run up to many of her album releases. Similarly, the artist partnered with Google to leave no less than 89 easter eggs for her fans to uncover via the search engine, in anticipation of 1989 (Taylor’s version).

Besides easter egg hunting, the Swifties indulge in another shared activity, namely the making and trading of friendship bracelets. The beaded bracelets, often spelling out Swift’s song titles or lyrics, are worn by the fans attending the Eras Tour. The trend was born back in November 2022 when the tour got announced close after the release of the artist’s 10th studio album Midnights. The song You’re On Your Own, Kid sparked the idea with its lyric “So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it”. Now, there is not one Swiftie in the audience without colourful beads dangling from their wrists.

Over the almost 18 years she has been in the music industry, Taylor Swift has had many accomplishments, but it seems that now she’s reached an all-time high. Undoubtedly, the main reason for this is the Eras Tour, a 3.5-hour show that began in March last year and is scheduled to end in December this year. But let’s come back to her fandom, since they are the ones supporting Taylor and help her to break so many records. A Statista report, put out at the end of last year, estimates the tour to gather more than nine million spectators and a revenue of 4.5 billion U.S. dollars from ticket sales, numbers that make it the highest grossing tour in history.

However, she holds other records that perhaps reflect the love shown by Swifties even better. In 2022 she became the first artist to occupy all the top 10 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single week. She was also declared as Spotify’s most streamed artist of 2023. Although, the most astounding record she set was at this year’s Grammy Awards, when she became the first artist to win, with her tenth studio album Midnights, “Album of The Year” four times (previously winning with Fearless, 1989 and Folklore).

Her influence not only leaves its marks in the economic field, but also in the political arena. She makes use of her fame to encourage participation and acknowledge the importance of voting on her social media accounts, whenever there is a crucial moment that will define the future of the United States. Indeed, she no longer expresses partisanship as openly as she did back in 2018 and 2020, when she endorsed the Democratic party, but she is known to still be politically involved.Swift has also shown to be an activist for women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community. Her acceptance speeches at music awards are known to empower women, and are delivered with a clever sarcasm towards the misogynistic comments she often endures.

As for the LGBTQ+ community, she showed her support with the song You Need to Calm Down, which she also used for wishing a “Happy Pride Month” to her fans in Lyon, on the 2nd of June.

All of that said, the idolization of an artist, to such an extent as the Swifties have displayed, can also take an ugly turn. For example, there’s a sense of competition among certain fans as to who knows the most about their beloved singer-songwriter. As a result, this rivalry has occasionally reached the point of invalidating newer members of the fandom or those who simply don’t engage with the Taylor Swift ‘lore’. Likewise, certain Swifties are known to show such unconditional support for Swift that they aggressively defend all of her actions. This became especially clear when the artist was under fire for her level of carbon emissions, due to her extensive use of her private jet, which sparked online abuse from select members of the fandom directed at anyone who dared to criticise Swift. Thankfully, such questionable behaviour is not common among all Swifties, however it does prove that there’s a dark side to a fandom enchanted by their idol.

Although we both consider ourselves to be Swifties, and we think that it is extremely fun to engage in all these little hunts for easter eggs, we also recognize the toxicity of such a devoted fandom. It’s not about competing with others and claiming the title of “The Biggest Swiftie”. It’s about having fun as we discover what the Mastermind - of course, we’re talking about Tay Tay - has prepared for us. And it also brings us together. It’s supposed to be an inclusive community, where everyone is equally important.

The devil’s in the details but you got a friend in us.

MESAzine comfort playlist

We all have some songs that have special meaning to us. A song that we always belt out at the karaoke, songs that hit us in feels and songs that remind us of certain people or places.

But mostly, we all have some songs that comfort us. Whether it's for hyping you up like a good AC/DC guitar riff, some poetic lyrics from Hozier or a bright throwback like Bee Gees, a comfort song can have many forms and sound different to everyone. To me a good comfort song is something that reminds me of a memory that I hold dear to my heart.

For example, “Il Comico” by Cesare Cremonini, reminds me of my childhood in Italy. I remember when it first came out and I sang it with my friends. Though we were all probably too young to really understand the meaning behind it, we all knew it by heart. It was only around 2021 that I rediscovered the

song and I really appreciated the lyrics and the symbolism behind it. This is the case with many Italian songs that are in the playlist. I love closely listening to the lyrics and paying attention to the details that the authors put into it.

Another Italian artist that holds a special spot in my heart is Emanuele Aloia. With Emanuele I have a special bond. My sister was the one that introduced me to his music and because she lives far away from me, listening to his music is a way for me to feel closer to her. Other than that, his music is inspired by and named after art works. In the comfort playlist we have “Il Bacio di Klimt”, Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. the signer writes about eternal love and compares it to the timelessness of the painting. His whole album is highly inspired by art and eternal beauty. It is named after Stendhal’s syndrome, which is a condition that involves fast heartbeat, hallucinations and dizziness when exposed to objects, people or art of great beauty.

The last song I will be talking about is “More than a woman” by Bee Gees. There is no song that I can think of that gives me more confidence or energy than this song. Whenever I am sad or feeling a little down I will put my headphones on, wear a cute outfit and take a little hot girl walk. And what do I listen to? Bee Gees. The beat and lyrics are so beautiful and bright. They literally make my brain shine with sunlight. It is also a song that talks about falling in love with the happiness that falling in love does bring. The feeling of being seen as “more than a woman”, falling in love a thousand times again just for being who you are. Anything by Bee Gees is just a shot of serotonin for me.

MESAzine Club

ASK THE ALUMNI

Barry Hilliard

In this edtion of the MESAZINE’s ‘Ask the Alumni’, we get to know more about the experience of Barry. He tells about his experience within Media Studies, but also beyond that. After finishing his studies he started to look for a job. While sharing his experience of landing his first job, he also gives some tips!

WHEN YOU WERE A MEDIA STUDIES STUDENT, WHAT TRACK DID YOU CHOOSE TO FOLLOW IN THE SECOND YEAR?

I chose the track – Politics and Global Citizenship.

DID THE TRACK YOU CHOSE INFLUENCE YOUR CAREER AFTER UNIVERSITY? IF YES, HOW? IF NOT, WHY?

Yes and no to be honest, Politics and Global Citizenship opened my eyes to a lot of the injustices and wrongs in our world, and as someone who was becoming more politically aware/literate at the time, it was the perfect storm to propel me into a career of helping people. I’ve always wanted something like that, but it’s only in the last few years that that has revolved around ‘Politics’ per-se. My job is political in a sense, we exist to help Irish business and grow our economy for the betterment of our citizens.

HOW WAS FINDING YOUR VERY FIRST JOB AFTER GRADUATING?

Very stressful, but worth it. I think everyone who comes out of university struggles with their first hire. I spent the summer of 2023 stressing about my future and worrying about my skills. Unemployment can be awful for your mental health, but when you meet the right company, you know it’s gonna work. That’s how I felt leaving the interview with Enterprise Ireland.

WHAT DIFFERENT JOBS DID YOU HAVE THROUGHOUT THE YEARS? WHAT WERE YOUR ROLES AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THEM?

I’ve had a few different kinds of jobs. When I was 15, I started working in Customer Service and Sales, in the sector of Telecommunications (Working for the Irish version of KPN basically). I learned so much about how to talk to people, how to work efficiently, how to stay calm under pressure, how to calm people down, and a hundred other things. I started as a Customer Service assistant, and 5 years later was the Assistant manager of the store and did lots of other tasks for another one of our stores on top of that. Customer service can be hellish sometimes, but the skills still stand to me today.

Other than that, I spent two years working for Flink in Groningen. This job wasn’t the most intellectually challenging, but I wanted a job that was flexible and casual while I was in college. But the bulk of my skills came from my previous experience, as well as my educational pursuits and of course, my experience with MESA.

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT JOB?

My current role is Executive Assistant with Enterprise Ireland.

HOW DID YOU FIND THIS JOB?

I found it through a recruitment company called Osborne Recruitment, based here in Ireland.

WHAT WAS THE HIRING PROCESS OF THIS JOB LIKE?

I had to submit a motivation letter along with my CV, tailored to the job requirements, then I was asked to come for an interview. The interview had two sections, competency review and skills-based drills. The first half just discusses your CV and previous experience, which was straightforward. The second part is where they ask you to respond to a scenario that is invented to demonstrate your capability to solve problems on the fly so to speak.

WHAT ARE SOME TRICKS FOR CONVINCING THE EMPLOYER YOU ARE THE BEST CANDIDATE DURING AN INTERVIEW?

Well, that depends on who you ask. I would say, do your best to show your enthusiasm for the position, even if you aren’t that passionate about the company, prepare an answer to the question “Why do you want to work here?” It’s really important the employer feels like you care about more than just the pay check. And if you’re already passionate, even better!

Don’t be afraid to talk yourself up, you’ve done more than you think, and are capable of a lot more than you may think you are, so don’t be afraid to show them you’re ready for a challenge.

WHAT DOES A DAY AT WORK LOOK LIKE?

It usually looks like this: I log in at 9am, look at today’s emails, log what I need for completion. Then I get into the projects I have going at any one moment, and make sure I do some work to progress each of those forward in a timely manner. I will have a few meetings of different kinds throughout the day, mostly for Events, as I am the event manager for my department also. This opportunity arose because of my experience in the Event Committee of MESA. Then I have lunch, repeat the same above tasks until 5pm!

DO YOU FEEL YOUR STUDIES PREPARED YOU WELL ENOUGH FOR THE JOB MARKET?

I think learning to think outside the box and increasing my self-confidence and social skills by going through university, translated into a lot of success in my current role. I have even been chosen for a promotion and will be moving back to Amsterdam to represent the company, as a result of all my previous experiences. Media Studies was a large part of that.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT STUDYING MEDIA STUDIES?

MESA for sure, I made friends for life in there, and learned so much about myself and even Dutch culture. These things all allowed me to seize the opportunity of the aforementioned promotion in Amsterdam.

DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR MESA MEMBERSHIP TO HAVE BEEN BENEFICIAL?

Absolutely, I wouldn’t have enjoyed my course or my university life half as much without it. The main reason I got my job with Enterprise Ireland was based on the work I did with MESA in the Event Committee, so I owe them a lot!

IS THIS WHAT YOU EXPECTED YOUR LIFE TO BE LIKE AFTER YOUR STUDIES?

It’s funny. You don’t really know what to expect, but I have to say, this is better than I thought it would be. A lot of students talk about the ‘working life’ with fear or apprehension, but it really isn’t as scary as it seems. If you can be responsible enough to graduate university, you already have all the skills you need to excel in the job market.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NETWORKING?

Yes and no to be honest, Politics and Global Citizenship opened my eyes to a lot of the injustices and wrongs in our world, and as someone who was becoming more politically aware/literate at the time, it was the perfect storm to propel me into a career of helping people. I’ve always wanted something like that, but it’s only in the last few years that that has revolved around ‘Politics’ per-se. My job is political in a sense, we exist to help Irish business and grow our economy for the betterment of our citizens.

IF YOU WERE TO GO BACK TO UNIVERSITY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?

The only semi-regret I have, would have been not becoming a board member of MESA, as I feel I was capable of the workload, but at the same time, I valued my work-life balance throughout college greatly, and I feel being a board member would have affected that negatively.

WHAT DID YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN?

The people I met along the way, for sure!

WHAT WOULD BE SOME PIECES OF ADVICE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS WHO ARE vUNSURE OF WHAT CAREER THEY WANT TO PURSUE AFTER FINISHING UNIVERSITY?

Don’t worry about trying to find the perfect job. Even if the job description doesn’t sound ‘sexy’, apply. I didn’t like the sound of my job originally, and it turned out to become a role that I loved and was able to expand by bringing my own skills in event management to the table. So, apply for everything, and have faith! If I can do it, you can too!

Event Committee Photo’s 2022 - 2023, MESA

M t the Profe or: Stacey Copeland

You might recognise them from their academic work on queer culture and cultural heritage or from the Media History course: Stacey Copeland. As a new assistant professor at the Media Studies and Journalism department, Stacey is more than ready to engage in more research and teaching at the RUG. It’s the perfect opportunity, then, to get to know the person behind these impressive academic titles and accomplishments, which is what we will do today!

written by: Ginevra Marchesini & Kim Mulder

Do you have any pets?

I do. I have a cat. She's 15 years old. Her name is Gia. She travelled here from Canada with me and my wife. But Gia and I got here first, so she's been here as long as I have. I don't think she cares that she's in a new country, though, because I really think all she needs is like, a good ray of sunshine and a good dinner, and she's happy.

Do you have any book or movie recommendations?

Sure! I really love anything by Anne Carson. She's a poet and a prose writer. And she's also a classicist. She has some really good writing that blends together classic histories with like queer romance and just thinking about life and death. So definitely Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson. And for movies, I don't go to the movies that much, but I really enjoyed Poor Things. Oh, and I definitely recommend But I’m a Cheerleader.

What does media studies mean to you?

(Since nobody seems to agree on the definition)

So for me, media studies is very much the study of media: how it operates across politics, society, and across technology. So, in that broad sense, it allows us to see the way that we circulate ideas about the world in broadcast, podcast, and other digital media forms.

How did you yourself experience going to university?

I wasn't actually a very good student in my undergraduate. So I never thought I would become a professor. That was never a thing. I went to school for media production in my undergrad and worked three jobs while I was there and found school not very interesting. It was mostly a way for me to get a job. But then by fourth year, I started taking philosophy classes and that really got me interested in media. What made me think about doing my Master's are those bigger, philosophical questions. Especially reading, for example, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir really made me think: ‘oh, maybe school is actually a really interesting place to be and there's some interesting ideas happening here’.

Why did you choose to become a professor here at the RUG?

Because they had a job. That was really the main reason. They had a job that really fit my interests and where I wanted to take my research. So, coming from Canada and being a queer person, there's only so many countries that I'm actually safe to do this kind of research in. And the Netherlands is one of those places. So it was on my list. And this job came up on cultural heritage and identity. And for me, it was just a perfect fit.

And of course you study media, but what is your favourite way to consume media?

My favourite way to consume media is definitely podcasts. Despite being a media professor, I'm not a big fan of reading. Shocking, I know. So I often use text-to-speech when I'm reading articles, for instance. So that's also how I prefer to consume most media, is by listening. So, even when I'm watching movies, I'll often be walking around doing other things in my house.

What does your function at the university exactly entail?

I'm an assistant professor here, so I teach some courses, but I'm mainly research focused right now. I teach Media History, Thinkers and Theories and I’m involved in teaching a lot of the foundational undergraduate courses. I was most recently teaching the Masters of Media Studies Innovation course, and I'll be teaching a bit in the Research Masters as well in the fall. And then on the flip side of that, a lot of my work is specifically research on cultural heritage and identity. For me that means a lot of time in the archives, so I work a lot with archival radio, archival sound materials, looking at queer and feminist histories of media. My research is placed both here in the Netherlands and in North America.

What is something that students should know about the job of a professor?

I think one thing that people don't always realise is that every day is completely different. And I mean, not just that my Monday is different from my Tuesday. My Monday last week is different from my Monday this week. And that can be one of the hard things about the job, but also one of my favourite things about the job. It's a job that gives you a lot of flexibility and a lot of different kinds of projects to work on.

What's something that inspires you to do this job?

I would say there's two things. One is getting to see, in my teaching side of things, how students come into a class on day one with ideas and maybe presumptions about what they might learn versus leaving on that last day of class with entirely new ways of seeing the world or seeing a certain topic. That never gets old. And then the second thing is being able to research and showcase queer histories that don't always get the time of day to get talked about. So I think that's a big thing that keeps me going, too.

Why do the topics that you research interest you?

I guess for me, it's the intersection of sound and identity in particular that's most of interest to me. We often think about identity as such a visual thing. So, I'm fascinated by the way that sound can circulate and make us think more about how we are in the world.

What's your favourite research method?

My favourite research method is interviews. If we're doing academic context, specifically semi-structured interviews. So, having that set of questions so that you have an understanding of how to analyse the work, but then also that flexibility to let the conversation go where it should, where your interviewee is most interested in taking it. I think that's the reason why I like semi-structured aspects because talking to other people and sharing ideas is one of my favourite things about working in the university.

Name: Stacey Copeland

Function at the RUG: I’m a new assistant professor at the research centre for Media and Journalism Studies

Field of Expertise: Queer culture, feminist media production, radio and podcast studies, cultural heritage and media archival studies

Favourite musical artist: Metric is always a backup consistent in my life, because I’ve been a fan since I was a teenager. But I think Chapell Roan and Haim are on the most heavy rotation right now

Guilty pleasure: Reality TV, like the bad Bachelorette kind

Fictional character I closely identify with: I mean when I was a teenager, people used to say Donna from that 70s show, so I’m going with that

Favourite spot in Groningen: Noorderplantsoen. I’m definitely falling into the picnic culture of the city

Most challenging part of being a professor: Scheduling. That’s why I always use Google Calendar.

Is there a moment of your teaching that you fondly remember?

One time a student was having a really bad day. I saw them step out of the classroom and so I pivoted and we did some other things to give them some time. Then I went out and checked on them while everyone was working on a project. And they came up to me afterwards and said no professor had ever done that for them before. They never respected that they needed that moment and came to actually check on them and treat them like a human being in that space rather than, you know, a number in the classroom. It's those kinds of moments where you get to really engage with students about how this space is for us as people who are growing and learning and not just brains in vats that are learning. We have a lot of things going on in our lives and we need to be able to respect each other's boundaries and space to get what we need out of this experience.

Is there a certain researcher that you look up to?

If we go by whose books I have the most of, it's definitely Sara Ahmed. I think her work is really interesting and just so influential in the way that she bridges both public and academic writing. And I think that's a really important aspect of doing research in a public institution: being able to speak both to the public and other academics. And her work always really grapples with both queer and feminist theory and activism.

What research project are you most proud of?

Is there any professional advice that you would give to students?

I think that would be different depending on if they want to go into industry or the academy. I've worked in both. If you want to go into the industry, start making stuff now. Just make stuff and don't be afraid, don't try to make it perfect. Just make it work. Build that portfolio, have fun and experiment. If you are interested in professional advice for going into the university, talk to professors there, make those connections. Networking within the university is the essential way to figure out what works best for you and where you want to be.

Definitely Amplify Podcast Network is a big one. It was a four-year grant project in Canada to think about how we can use podcasting as a form of scholarship, so actual academic publications. And I've met amazing people through that project and gotten to really build out a network of people who are interested in alternative forms of academic work. So, that would definitely be one. And then the second one is probably the research that was my dissertation research and is now being turned into a book and audio documentary, and that's on lesbian feminist and queer feminist radio and podcasting in the 1970s to present. That's based on the North American context, but I'm now shifting to look at the Dutch context as well.

Imagine if the possibilities are endless and you could do anything you want, do you think your life would look the same?

No. If I could do anything I wanted, I would probably still do research, but part-time and then I would just travel around the world.

How do you envision the rest of your career? Are you gonna keep working at the uni or are there any other dreams that you want to accomplish?

I mean, it's interesting finally being here after you do your PhD and your Master's and you think about that seven, eight year goal of getting a position like this. Now that I'm here, I'm more so looking forward to seeing what the next five years looks like here. I'm so new that it's exciting to think about all of the possibilities. Haven't quite hit that, ‘oh what's next after this career’ moment yet. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what's next here at the university.

Dorothy’s: behind the drag

You might know her already if you ever visited Dorothy’s Drag Bar, it’s the fabulous Dorothy herself! We asked her questions about what it is like running a queer bar here in Groningen, about her personal life as a drag queen, and about the drag scene itself. She runs the bar together with Andy, where she occasionally also performs as her drag persona Dorothy Male.

Why did you start doing drag? What got you into it?

I started dragging in 1902. Many, many years ago. I left home and found myself in the queer scene quite by accident. When I was living in England I knew there was a queer scene that was quite lively on the coast so I ended up going there. Got my first job on my own, working in McDonald's, but I also started working in a drag bar and there I started to learn about the queer scene itself and that's when I started to get into drag.

What is your favourite thing about doing drag?

For me, drag is multi-pointed. I enjoy the attention because all drag queens, although they won't admit it, they like attention. They like to be the centre of attention and to be the party so it is good fun. I also do it because we own the bar and it gives a kind of sense of responsibility because drag is really one of the only forms in the LGBTQ+ community that really brings everyone together. Every spectrum from straight, gay, bi, you name it, everything comes in together. That's really important because I feel that has been lost over the last 10 or 15 years. That's where Dorothy's concept came from, because we weren't just going to be a drag bar, but we were going to be a meeting space for people to come together and enjoy drag.

You said that the community has kind of changed. We're still very young so we don't know, but can you tell how it has been in the past? What has changed?

It's a bit of a weird thing because it's kind of done in a circle. When I was growing up in the queer community, in the 90s, queer was becoming a thing that was okay to be. You have people like George Michael, Boy George, Grace Jones. And then there was this new thing called drag queens, which not a lot of people had heard about. This was even before RuPaul had put a wig on. I saw everything developing and it becoming more and more open. It was more acceptable than in the 2000s. Now I see it's diversifying in lots of different ways. I see almost militarization in some ways within the queer scene where people are really segregating themselves in their own section of the community. They're putting themselves in a box, not wanting to be part of any other house of the community. And that's something that I'm finding very difficult at the moment because I think it's important, particularly with something like the LGBTQ+ community, that

we need to bring everyone together. At the moment there's a lot of people outside who are not mixed with this community who want to see all of us hurt. They want to make us hide, they want us to be scared again like we were in the 80s. And I think the only way we can do this is by bringing ourselves back together as a community instead of putting ourselves in boxes at this moment, if that makes sense.

What do you wish people knew about drag? It depends. You've obviously got your average drag punter, so you want them to see the drag. And then you have people that approach you via an email and say ‘why don't you do a drag show, I've never touched drag before, but I think it's great to have a drag queen there and have a bit of fun with them.’ It's nice that they see the drag but they don't really understand the effort and the work that goes into drag. It is expensive being a drag queen. I see other bigger drag queens and they spend a lot of money. I see them trying to get shows and gigs in different venues and events and they get paid the money, but then we also get approached by people who say to me “oh yeah I'm having this event in our local city center something can you come and do a drag for me” But when I say the cost they are like “oh it's way way too expensive!” I'm like, well it's 1.5 hours to get to you, it's another two hours to get ready, then I have to deal with the degradation of my equipment, this is why it costs so much. It's almost over half a day's work and they don't have an understanding behind it. I think that's has a little bit to do with the social aspect these days and it's also lack of education with people who don’t know what it really is to be a professional drag queen.

What is a piece of advice for those starting drag now? What would you say to them? Keep it cheap. Programs like RuPaul have given this impression that you have to spend a lot of money, be a perfect seamstress, be perfect with your makeup. Even before you've done your first show, you could be knocking 1000 euros. I mean, I quite happily spend 350-450 euros a week these days. It is not needed to be expensive, drag is entertainment. One of the things we do is that we have open stages for brand new drag queens, and we give them the opportunity to come on our stage. I say to them is do not blow a fortune on your costumes. Beg, borrow, steal. Get yourself some basic makeup, then go from there. We've got drag queens that are happy to help you, Curvalicious Diamond loves to help drag queens if they're coming up for the first time. I will usually help people with their

stage presence and their stage performance. We've had drag kings and drag queens come through our bar who are learning the trade to become bigger. Bella is one at the moment that's coming through. We also have a drag king who owns a toy store here in Groningen. She is becoming a bigger drag king and it's not because they're wearing the most extravagant clothes, it's because they're putting the effort into their stage presence.

Who were your queer icons growing up?

One of the most famous things I remember seeing on TV was a lady I called Grace Jones. She was being interviewed by a very famous Irish guy called Terry Wogan, who was a big presenter on BBC one. She's a prickly bitch when she wants to be. She was quite young then but she was on TV with Terry Wogan and she actually hit him so many times because he was being quite rude and Grace Jones does have a bit of a short fuse. She was also a James Bond baddie at the time. I'm very honoured to have met her as well. I had a party with her. I've also seen her start naked, which was a bit of a shock but not for me. She was at the party and she decided to get naked, that's what she does. She's just as fiery when you meet her. We had a good laugh and then she just left me straight away, went off to a hotel room. Grace Jones was kind of my first famous celebrity I met.

What is your go-to lip sync song? Your favourite to perform?

I'll tell you an insider trade secret with drag queens. When you say your favourite song to do, it's usually the song that you've learned the most. You've turned up to a drag show and you're like, Oh God, I can't remember my words. So you always go to this particular song. I've got several:

You're Simply the Best by Tina Turner, the Celine Dion song My Heart Will Always Go On, Welcome to Burlesque from the musical film Burlesque, and This is Me by The Greatest Showman Those are kind of the songs that I do now, when I was growing up, it was Tina Turner’s You're Simply the Best It was also Kylie Minogue, Madonna It was the songs you kind of heard all the time

When did you decide to open the bar, and why ? It was by accident. We met the previous owner, and we were just having a general conversation and I said “oh it'd be nice to buy a bar” and he said “oh well, would you buy this bar?” At first, he came up with a ridiculous cost, and then about four months later he turned around and we came up with a figure We've invested a ton of our own money into the bar as well, almost as much as what we spent buying the bar. We will never see the return on this place, we will lose money running this place, but we do it because we enjoy it I will probably never go on vacation to the Caribbean W h a t i s t h e c r a

What's your favourite event that you have hosted at this bar? We do big halloween events here, it's always sold out We have the house queens present and they always put a lot of effort into the costumes Ellen, who is the bearded queen, came as a possessed drag queen. She was quite scary. Pride is also always a good one, we usually have a Rupaul’s Drag Race queen here, Keta Minaj will be joining us on the 22nd this month

W h a t i s a n e v e n t t h a t y o u w a n t t o h o s t i n t h e f u t u r e t h a t y o u h a v e n ' t d o n e y e t ? T h a t ' s

l a r g e e v e n t . I w o u l d l o

p o i n t , b e c a u s e s h e w a s w a l k i n g o n i t a n d t h e b a r w a s w o b b l i n g

N o w t h e r e i s a t h i n g t h e r e a b o v e t h e b a r s o t h e d r a g q u e e n s

c a n ' t d o t h a t D r a g q u e e n s a r e l i k e c a t s , t h e y g e t d r a w n t o

a n y t h i n g t h a t ' s h i g h p l a c e s .

C h e c k o u t D o r o t h y ’ s I n s t g r a m

p a g e f o r u p d a t e s o n t h e i r

e v e n t s a n d s t u d e n t n i g h t s !

@ d o r o t h y s . g r o n i n g e n

What are some struggles that you have with the bar? We do experience problems with some of the neighbours, because they don't want the bar to be here We're also having problems with the Gemeente, because they are currently hitting us with a very large rule book saying that the signage doesn't match We had to do a fundraiser for this Thankfully we raised about 5,000 euros, which will cover most of what we need to do. The other problem we were experiencing is that we sometimes attract the local idiots on the extreme side. They usually run away when they see a drag queen that's two metres tall, especially if you've got Curva on the door But we also do get some issues with people that fully don't believe in the LGBTQ scene. Those are the more difficult ones, and they can be the ones that can turn violent That's the reason why we have quite a good security level The majority of the time I put myself between any idiots and customers anyway, so the first person that gets any problems is myself

Any final comments you'd like to share?

C o m e t o D o r o t h y ' s b a r ! E v e r y o n e s a y s t h e

y important, but what we're finding is less and less people are coming to queer bars Without customers we can't remain open Drag shows are very expensive to run, because each drag queen has to be paid, all the staff have to be paid, and still we get people coming in a n d g e t t i n g f u

d

. U n

c a n ' t b e f u l l w i t h h a l f t h e p e o p l

k i n g u p space when I've got paying customers who can't come in What I'm b a s i c a l l y s a y i n g i s , i f y o u w a n t a q u e e r c

drag shows, you have to come in and support the drag bar Even if it's just one drink

Interview with Rachel

This month

Does summer even exist?

Best place to hide at Harmo

Lost at Harmo, what do?

Can I buy a BA on marktplaats?

How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?

Asked by AI: Dr. Rachel van der Merwe

By: Kim Mulder & Christiaan Lange

Mesazine

Have you ever wondered what would happen if AI took over our jobs as journalists and media content creators? What kind of crazy stories would come out of it? Well, that is what we tested with this interview.

Being a big fan of science-fiction and video games (and also studying them), who would be a better candidate to be interviewed by an AI than Dr. Rachel van der Merwe? (Although it might be important to mention that, because of her interest in sci-fi, Rachel admitted that she was also a bit scared to do this interview: we’ve all seen what happens in the books and movies). Now, let’s see what it looks like when an AI generates all the questions for a professional interview!

2024

If pigeon hole, where pigeon?

Does a monokini and a bikini imply the existance of a trikini?

When is too early for my christmas playlist?

Why does Groningen hate my bike?

Mesazine Rachel

Dr. van der Merwe, what tragic series of events led you to pursue a career in academia?

Actually, it never occurred to me to become a professor when I was in my BA. I was studying to work in film. So, it is a tragic series of events because the industry is a tragic place. I studied to be a film producer, worked on lots of film sets, made a feature film with some of my colleagues there and we went to Japan and did the film festival circuit, all these cool things. Then I had my first internship at AMC Networks, which was super cool. But behind the glamour of all these amazing shows that I loved, there was just an office building that was sterile. Here, people spent 12 to 14 hours at their desk having food brought to them while they printed an obscene amount of paper. But I also got to do cool things too, like script coverage. But when I did a series of interviews at the end of my BA with a lot of people that were working in film, I started learning that almost all of them had no time for kids or a personal life, and that various tragedies happened in their lives because they just didn't have any time to invest in their communities. Their job was everything. So, I decided to sort of strike it on my own for a little bit, start my own production company. I started that with a couple of people who graduated with me and we were doing really cool stuff, for example doing concept music videos for Pitchfork and Spin. But again, I wasn't actually doing the creative stuff. And so, at that point, I realised it was a tragic sort of set of events where I was like, ‘I can't actually do what I wanted to do, which is make stuff’. And that was when one of my former professors was like, ‘why don't you think about going back to grad school?’. So that's why I went back there. And that's what sort of set off the whole tragic events, where I discovered that also we very frequently don't have personal lives in academia either.

Mesazine

What if inanimate objects could talk? What do you think your favourite object would say to you?

Rachel

Well, maybe inanimate objects do talk, you know. There's a whole field of cultural theory that talks about this. I mean, the reality is, to be quite honest, that I do talk to a lot of objects in my life. Like, I found myself yesterday talking to my bike, on my cycle home. So if they could talk back, you know, we could have a conversation. Also, it would be fantastic if my TV could talk. And then we could discuss the shows and the films that we watch. ‘Cause I have all my video games on there too. So, we could have lovely conversations about what's going on because I don't always have people around to talk to. And so, I would have the trusty TV to have a conversation about media.

Mesazine

How do your hobbies, like stamp collecting or competitive napping, influence your professional life?

Rachel

Science fiction is something that I started reading a lot in grad school. Because, for me, reading in my personal time is a way that I can completely escape from this world in some regard. I find a way to escape: narrative escapism is really helpful to turn off my work brain. But science fiction has been really interesting because it both allows me to think about a whole different world and it also tends to have a lot of intersections with my research and my thinking. A lot of the work that I do is always about: what does it actually mean to be human? And how are we constructing this concept of being human? And how does this affect our mediation or the things that we use? So a lot of my research works out how that reflects on our own sense of self and identity. And science fiction is a great place for coming up with research questions or thinking about ideas. Or it's often been the first place for me where I've started to sort of conceptualise the kinds of questions that I want to ask. Or where I want to look for theory.

Interview with Rachel

This month

Does summer even exist?

Best place to hide at Harmo

Lost at Harmo, what do?

Can I buy a BA on marktplaats?

How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?

Mesazine

Who's been the most influential mentor in your life? Was it Yoda, Gandalf, or someone equally mystical?

2024

If pigeon hole, where pigeon?

Does a monokini and a bikini imply the existance of a trikini?

When is too early for my christmas playlist?

Why does Groningen hate my bike?

I mean, if I had to choose between Yoda and Gandalf, it would be Gandalf. I was reading Lord of the Rings when I was very young. But beyond those two, I don't know… For me, the way that my brain works, it's not one person. There have been so many different people at different stages of my life and my career that have planted different seeds that have brought me to where I am. So, I sort of push back at this sort of singular idea of the hero or the mentor figure. I think it's something that we as society should do a better job of being attentive to. You know, sometimes it's also like a person who just enters into your life briefly and you have one conversation with and that sets something off in you that lasts for a long time. And that person, I think, we should be more attentive to sort of recognizing that person's sort of role in our life. So, for me, a lot of what I teach, I inherited from my mother. My own professors. People who pour themselves into me in a range of different ways. Various different family members. Various people that I've worked alongside. Students as well have mentored in surprising ways and taught me a lot. So, I think, for me, the mystical part of this is the ways in which we are constantly being shaped and produced by everybody around us.

Mesazine

If you could visit an alternate reality where you made different life choices, would you bring back souvenirs?

Rachel

I mean… Okay, then this is the whole butterfly paradox. Like, if I brought back a souvenir, would that change this timeline? And so, I don't know. I think I would feel torn because there's also family members involved. There’s fantasy and science fiction books when people do this and things go horribly wrong and then there's Doctor Who who breaks all the rules and people just wander everywhere. So, I don't know. Do we live in a Doctor Who world or do we live in just Jurassic Park? I mean, I don't want dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs but I don't want them back. I guess the answer is no. I’ll just bring back my own memories.

Mesazine

Imagine a video game where you play as yourself navigating your real life challenges. How do you think this game would be received?

Rachel

This is a really funny question because something that I have been realising about myself in the last year is that I really hate open world games. And one of the reasons why I hate them is because my life is already enough of an open world game where I have to be attentive and make choices. It's exhausting and exhilarating to have to do life as is and to also have to do that for a game… it's even worse. So, I've finally come to terms with the fact that I do not enjoy open world games and so I play a lot less of them now. So, then if someone else had to play a game based on my life… I mean, people tell me my life is very interesting, because I’ve had a crazy life. I’ve lived on three different continents and lots of different places. Also, I’ve had different kinds of jobs, worked in different industries such as film and academia. I even briefly worked for the military industrial complex. I guess it would be a very expensive game to make because you’d have to have a lot of different gamescapes. But, I don’t know, everybody says my life is interesting. Yet, it might also be a boring game for many people because it’s a lot of doing things like navigating life transitions. I mean, God of War is also about growing up, so you can definitely make games about that. So, sure, why not? Let’s see what people will think!

Mesazine

Do you think there could be video games in the afterlife? If so, what kind of games do you think the afterlife would offer?

Rachel

Oh, absolutely! If there’s an afterlife, it’s very much going to be an evolution of what we have now but without injustice and other bad things. So, in terms of video games: there’s definitely no GTA in the afterlife. Controversial opinion but I think that its satirical power is just an excuse. There’d also be no Tetris since it’s about the tediousness and the constants of capitalism. So, I think we no longer would have games that are critical critiques on, for example, colonialism or capitalism. We’d see games have a lot more of a feminist and queer influence in the afterlife. These games would still be fulfilling, so people aren’t bored and have a good time. There might also be more collaborative games. But, for sure, no GTA.

Rachel

Interview with Rachel

This month

Does summer even exist?

Best place to hide at Harmo

Lost at Harmo, what do?

Can I buy a BA on marktplaats?

How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?

Mesazine

If aliens created video games what do you think their games would be like more advanced graphics or just more tentacles?

2024

If pigeon hole, where pigeon?

Does a monokini and a bikini imply the existance of a trikini?

When is too early for my christmas playlist?

Why does Groningen hate my bike?

Rachel Mesazine

I would like to protest to the AI about the assumption that aliens have tentacles. It's been watching too many Hollywood films. And also, apparently, octopuses don't have tentacles but those are arms. I mean, if you’ve watched Three Body Problem or read the books, you’ll see that there’s a video game in that series that’s designed by aliens. And, it uses far more advanced technology than we have. So, there are no tentacles, but it’s very immersive. I mean, I guess this also goes into the question if there are aliens out there and why we haven't encountered them yet. Let’s not get into that right now. But there’s a theory where everybody is intentionally not reaching out. Because if you were to encounter a species that’s more intelligent and advanced, we know from human history that generally the advanced one wipes the other out. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. For me, I would be more interested in how fundamentally different the sensorial experiences and logics of those video games would be. It would help us to understand how they see the world. Also, there’s the question if we can even play the game because aliens might have a fundamentally different body than we do. Hopefully we could develop an interface that makes it possible for humans to even play this game. So, there’s a lot of ifs and it would be very far down the road. I mean, it could only happen if they haven’t already killed us or we have killed them.

What if everything in life was gamified, from rushing your tree to play, to paying taxes? Would you be more motivated or just end up rage-quitting adulthood?

Can you rage-quit adulthood? Because if you could, I think I already would have. They all said you're going to leave your twenties and things will settle down and that's not true

I mean, to some extent I think capitalist society has gamified everything. Capitalism in many cases is a grand sophisticated game that keeps us like rats running on a wheel in a cage. Thinking that we're producing and being more productive and efficient when we're all just basically doing the same thing and we don't actually have a lot of freedom to do much else. But we are getting constant dopamine. I would say that everything is already gamified and we're all tired because again, life is an open world game that has been controlled by the capitalists.

Rachel Mesazine

Do you think video game characters might one day become sentient? If so, what's the ethical protocol for when Mario asks for a day off?

*Pulls a face signalling that she’s done with this AI*. I have to be very careful with this question because otherwise we will spend the next hour discussing what sentience is. Firstly, this is the problem. We don't actually know as a society what sentience really means. There's something called The Chinese Room Argument as well, which also talks about this idea that computers have the capacity to mimic human decision-making and language to the point at which they have figured out the code essentially, and so they can interact with u, but they don’t actually understand what it is they’re communicating. But is that sentience? Because then, sentience implies some sort of understanding and comprehension and intentionality behind it. But also, do all humans necessarily comprehend and understand certain things, or are they just playing certain roles in society that are given out to us? I'm going to just say that the chances of Mario becoming actually sentient, whatever that might mean, are slim. Mario, however, being able to engage with humans in a way that appears to be sentient, could be possible with deep learning. But then we're going to run into this problem of our society: if we have not been able to determine whether Mario is actually sentient or not, what kind of rights do we afford to him? And because we created Mario, we are unlikely as humanity to actually afford real rights based on our track record. So, if Mario asks for a day off... Mario's not going to get a day off unless he unionises. I would tell Mario to unionise and explain to him the importance of collective labour.

Interview with Rachel

This month

Does summer even exist?

Best place to hide at Harmo

Lost at Harmo, what do?

Can I buy a BA on marktplaats?

How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?

Mesazine

Picture this. Your life suddenly transforms into a glitchy video game. Would you find yourself as the courageous hero battling pixelated perils, the quirky sidekick with an odd obsession for collecting rubber chickens, or the NPC who inexplicably offers quests involving finding lost socks and deciphering cryptic riddles for vending machines?

If pigeon hole, where pigeon?

Does a monokini and a bikini imply the existance of a trikini?

When is too early for my christmas playlist?

Why does Groningen hate my bike?

Oh, I have a horrible feeling I would be the NPC. Because the way that I move through life is like, have you read this? Have you done that? Like, what about this? Or, can you please clean this? Can you please do that? As a producer, I'm very good at delegating. So, I think I would probably be an NPC, because I would just pop up at the most inopportune moments and be like, but have you? That would actually be very rewarding. And then I think I would probably also be incentivized to rise up and unionise the NPCs as well, against the ways in which they can completely be exploited. Like when people go through games just randomly chopping off NPC heads.

Also, another reason why I would definitely be an NPC is that I'm a firm believer in side quests. I mean, just look at how this conversation has gone.

Rachel Mesazine

You're in a battle royale style competition, but instead of weapons, contestants fight with their favourite burrito ingredients. What's your ultimate burrito build, and how do you plan to emerge victorious in this culinary clash?

I refuse the whole idea of a battle royale to start with. I don't know if I would necessarily call myself a pacifist, but why are we doing this? So I probably would just, like, if they gave us burritos, I would take my burrito and I would walk off and find, like, a boulder to sit behind and hide. And I would eat my burrito. Because burritos are delicious, and I struggle to find good burritos in this country. I've lived in Los Angeles for eight years. I love a good burrito. The best burrito in the world is at this place called Bear Flag Fish Company. It's in Newport Beach, California. And they use fresh fish that comes straight from the ocean. I always like a red snapper burrito. So, you have got a little bit of rice, good refried beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, and a nice squeeze of lemon juice on top. Usually burritos are lime, but since it’s made with white fish it's really nice with lemon. And then you actually wrap up the burrito and toast it on the grill. Also for me the big thing with a burrito is you need to actually mix it, because I hate compartmentalised burritos where you bite in and you get a mouthful of just one thing. I would not actually participate in the battle royale. I'm just going to eat my burrito and be really happy. And then I would be like, are there reserves? Are there burrito boxes? Can I eat more burritos? Because that would be my only reason to venture out.

DEAR HOLLYWOOD, PLEASE STOP COPYING BROADWAY

Picture this: you’re in the cinema, about to enjoy one of the new blockbuster movies. You bought tickets for the best seats and secretly snuck in some jellybeans in your massive backpack. As you’re munching on your jellybeans, the first scene starts playing. Then, out of nowhere there’s the sound of musical notes. Hm… That’s odd, you think. That’s when you realise. It’s a musical. Sounds familiar? Then you probably also have been hit by Hollywood’s new trick pony: musical-to-movie adaptations.

With In the Heights, Wonka, and Mean Girls appearing on the large screen, it seems as if Hollywood got obsessed with musical theatre. As a musical theatre nerd myself, I often catch myself feeling excited for these musical-to-movie adaptations. But then, every single time I actually go see the movie, I leave the theatre disappointed. How could they EVER mess up one of my favourite musicals like this?

It sounds easy, right? Just taking the entirety of a great musical and slapping it in a cinematic format. Taking a story that’s already loved by the masses and bringing it to the pictures. But somehow, these Hollywood studios manage to leave important plots out of these movies. Every. Single. Time.

It’s like when your favourite book gets turned into a film. Finally getting the recognition it deserves. But then, they have left entire storylines out of the movie. Why? Well, I guess McLuhan was right by saying that the medium is the message, as these adaptations show that movies just have way less time to explore stories than other media do. And this hurts the storylines.

There are multiple musical films of which the director (for some unexplainable reason) has chosen to eliminate certain songs of the musical soundtrack from the movie. And that is just downright ridiculous. The songs make the story in musicals. They often explain the thoughts and feelings of the characters, in a catchy way, of course. By taking this away, certain decisions made by the characters

In the musical, there are several songs which perfectly explain the motives of the side characters. There’s a song when all the parents of the teenagers in the story express their frustrations with parenthood. A song where Evan’s mom explains how she felt when her husband left her. And a song where the audience finally finds out why Connor’s father has been acting so stiff, despite the tragic circumstances. All amazing songs which show the audience why these characters are important and why they’re the way they are.

But no. Hollywood decided to skip these songs. Instead, they added a new song to the soundtrack: a corny song about “the anonymous ones”, the people who often get forgotten about; also known as another song on the original soundtrack titled “You Will be Found” (which is better, by the way). Personally, I find this worse than the fact that Ben Platt looks like a literal 40-year-old man in that movie (which is already a crime in itself). For the recent Mean Girls movie, they did the exact same thing: getting rid of perfectly fine songs to replace them with some mediocre tunes.

Where has Hollywood’s obsession with butchering musicals come from? If we rewind a bit, to the year 2008, we can see that this obsession has only started in recent years. Because, in this year, the wonderful musical movie Mamma Mia made it to the cinemas. A wholesome movie that captures the story of the musical stunningly. Also, luckily, they decided to keep the songs more or less the same, without the added mediocracy. Modern Hollywood could never. Seriously, where has this quality of turning musicals into movies gone? We desperately need it back.

Another thing that Hollywood has gotten good at during recent years, is to advertise these musical films as normal movies. People go to the cinema expecting to see a nice remake of the iconic Mean Girls movie or the backstory of Willy Wonka. But then, the actors start singing? To some, this is a reason to immediately leave the movie theatre. If Hollywood has gotten so obsessed with these movies, why do they feel the need to hide it? Why would you gaslight your entire audience by pretending it’s not a musical. Maybe they’re aware of the fact that the modern musical films suck and use this strategy to try to lure people to watch these movies anyway? Whatever it is, it’s not working. This is a call to the filmmakers all the way in Hollywood and the ones who want to pursue a career in film in the future. Please, pretty please, stop butchering Broadway musicals in order to produce some cash grab blockbusters. Instead, learn to appreciate the art that is musical theatre and embrace it in the upcoming musical-to-movie adaptations. If you do this, more people will actually acknowledge this art and start loving it for what it is: the performance which combines all the arts. Then, maybe you wouldn’t need to hide your obsession anymore, but actually be proud of it. Because, dear Hollywood, it’s more than okay to admit that you’re a musical theatre kid.

BOOK REVIEW

By: Ginevra Marchesini

Amongst the vast catalogue of Greek myth retelling, The Song of Achilles stands out like a bright star in a night of darkness. A love story among many tragedies.

Madeline Miller writes about Achilles and Patroclus, she fashions a modern work of literature out of one of the most ancient legends out there. The tale of Troy. Between all the fury and bloodshed of the war, Miller manages to scrape in between the lines and create one of the most heart-wrenching and warm love stories that I have ever come across. You could consider it a tragedy itself, or be like me and pretend the last 3 chapters never happened. Regardless of the many many tears I shed reading this book, I will tell you all about why I love it so much.

“I could recognise him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world”

Firstly, the most interesting part of this book is that, unlike other Trojan War retellings, films and books, this story does not belong to Achilles. It belongs to Patroclus, Achilles’ companion. Most beloved companion. We follow the same story that many of us have grown up reading and studying, but from someone who has not been the main character. Sometimes considered the underdog, Patroclus shines brightly as the main character of this book. We read his deep and complex thoughts, how beautifully and lovingly he talked about Achilles. It is so compelling to read the love that Patroclus had for Achilles, and vice versa. It is so beautiful to read how they talked about each other, with so much affection and respect.

We begin the story with Patroclus’ childhood, starting with his life and his family. We get to know Patroclus before Achilles. The story begins with his exile from his father’s court, where he ends up living in Peleus’s home. It is soon after when the boy falls in love with his host’s son, Achilles. From childhood Achilles held a god like status, his superhuman abilities making him stand out amongst his peers; faster, stronger and far more beautiful than those around him. Between their childhood friendship and teenage years, the pair grows tighter and

closer. Once Achilles has to leave his father’s residence, Patroclus can’t help but follow. He cannot bear to be apart from him. They cannot bear to be apart from each other.

Though I suspect many know the fate of the pair, the book does not disappoint in surprise and suspense. Once tragedy struck the couple, I was just as heart broken and hurt. I cried like a newborn baby. Their heartbreak was my heartbreak.

Sometimes I just think about the fact that the Trojan war lasted for a decade. A whole 10 years. But Achilles and Patroclus lived 18 beautiful years together. That’s 18 years of loving each other, 216 months of speaking each other’s names, 936 weeks of holding hands. 6570 evenings of glorious sunsets, 157’680 hours of love and warmth. It’s easy to think of all the time they lost, the final moments where they still had each other. The years that never were. But I think we should think of the time they did live together. They argued and laughed, learned and remembered all about each other. Touched each other’s body, mind and soul. They lived and loved together and I think that adds up to more than the deaths and long moments of solitude.

“In the darkness, two shadows, reaching the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood, like a hundred golden urns pouring out the sun.”

What do the stars tell us?

All the grades you are yet to receive are all going to be above an 8

Your feet will touch something in the sea but you will never know what it is

Daydreaming will prevent you from being productive

You will run a marathon but are unable to finish

You will get in a very big argument with your friends, but you will win

Money will be of no problem anymore after this summer

The soles of your shoes will break off

Your bag will get stolen at the beach

You will have a hot girl summer

Tukkie will always accept your treats

You will get a eally bad sunburn

You will have a roadtrip this summer

by: Jolanda Zweers

How to Survive Research: 9 tips BY SCOTT A. ELDRIDGE II!

‘Do your own research!’ Uttered by a podcaster or written in all-caps mid-way through a lengthy social media post, this phrase can be a worrying reflection of a misguided notion that searching on Google is the route to finding out everything you ever need to know about the way of the world (damn the experts, full speed ahead!).

However, when found in your syllabus or a lecture slide, ‘do your own research’ is a much different request and perhaps one you should heed if you hope to get through your course (relatively) unscathed.

Of course, you already have an idea of what research is – finding out information, answering questions, analyzing data, etc. – but do you know how to find your way into it? Moreover, how do you dive in when it's your turn to define the topic. On the back of an annual ‘how to survive research’ talk I give to the MA students, the editors of this magazine approached me to offer a condensed version of these points, and I’ve collected a few top tips that you can use at any stage in your studies when told, ‘Do your own research!’

Tip

1: Don’t just use Google

Denominalization – or ‘verbing’ – is the term used to describe how a proper noun like ‘Google’ has become the object of the sentence ‘I will search on Google’ to ‘Googling.’

Google is great for lots of things, and it is ubiquitous. But it is not the be all end all for research and there are many reasons to avoid using Google. Say, for example, you’re doing a study on disinformation. You’re going to get a lot of results, but the likelihood that these will be research-based, or research, is not likely … at least not straightaway and without a lot of ‘gaming’ the Google system. Moreover, with LLM/AI search coming into force, Google Search results have been overwhelmed by content that is, for our purposes, junk.

If you’re going to make your way through an area of research, and tackle the current debates in that area of research, you’ll have to move beyond just searching on Google. Here are a few things that might help as you do so.

Tip 2: Find your home

When it comes to research publications - journals, edited collections, etc. - there is a lot out there, and it can be overwhelming to try to make sense of this mountain of scholarship.

To keep you grounded in your hunt for more research, take note of which journals you keep returning to. If you look in our syllabi, you might already notice that many of your readings come from the same journals (such as Journalism Studies or New Media & Society). Go back to these when you’re searching for literature, as you’re more likely to find relevant and related research (and then, once you’ve found a few things to build on, move on to other journals).

Tip 3: Search by keyword

Once you’ve found that journal that suits your interests and needs, use the journal’s search bar and, if possible, it’s advanced search. Put in frequently used keywords like ‘audiences’ or ‘platforms’, and when the results pop up organize by date to find both the most recent work, but also some foundational resources, or by relevance to see the results that are (likely to be) most similar to your search terms, or try other filters to narrow in on your topic and research area. You can also search by key authors whose work you’ve already read, or keep coming across.

Tip 4: Read the abstract, intro, and conclusion

When you find a journal article that seems relevant, first read the abstract and the introduction, and then jump to the conclusion. This way you get a good idea of what the article aims to do, and a sense of where it ends up. If you do this and think that the article is what you’re looking for, then go back and read the whole thing to find out other research you might want to read (from the article’s review of literature) possible methods you might want to use, and key areas you should reflect on in your own research.

Tip 5: Special issues

Every so often, journals publish special issues where a full issue of anywhere from eight to twelve articles is devoted to one subject. Have a look out for these, as this is a good way to immediately immerse yourself in a topic. For example, say you’re studying alternative media, and you realize that the journal Digital Journalism has a special issue on alternative media called ‘Contesting the Mainstream’. Now, be carefuldon’t JUST use special issues. But they are a good way into your topic.

Tip 6: Check out your teachers’ staff pages

Every so often, a student will walk up to me with a look of surprise after they realized that I wrote one of the articles they came across during their research. It’s not something I take personally - when I was a student I wasn’t aware of all the research my own lecturers and professors had done either. But it might also come as a surprise to you that nearly all of your lecturers are doing research (when they aren’t teaching, grading, or updating Brightspace).

So if you found a particular lecture or course interesting, look up your teacher’s staff page and check out the research they’ve done. You might find new ideas to explore, or new directions to go in, or just a new window into all the work we’re doing when we’re not teaching.

Tip 7: Go to Google (Scholar)

While Google itself can be a bit of a nightmare, Google Scholar is far more useful when looking for research. You can search for authors, or search for terms that apply to your research topic. You can click on researcher’s profiles to see the work they’ve published, and sort by year (to see the most recent, for example) or by citations (to see which articles, books, and chapters are seen as useful to other scholars). There are also ways of searching in date ranges, and clicking through to find co-authors. There are other online resources that some people like to use, including ‘AI’ tools like Research Rabbit, as well as the university Library’s search databases, which allow you to see who has cited a certain piece, and which ones it cites, etc.

Tip 8: Think for yourself

There is no one tool, and no tool works perfectly. So you have to think critically and frequently about how well things work for your own research project and the work you have to produce.

Tip 9: Lastly, go for a walk …

All of this is a lot … there is a lot of research out there, and to make sense of it takes time and energy. And you need to take breaks to let it sink in – we do too. I prefer to go for a run after reading through literature to let the ideas settle in, and I know colleagues who will think about their research while cooking, or going for a walk through the park. Part of doing research is reflecting on the things you’ve read about, and those you plan on doing yourself. So take some of that time. Of course, this means as well that you need to have that time to give yourself, so please - PLEASE! - don’t put off your research until the last minute.

BOOK REVIEW

BY: Jolanda Zweers

From the same pen that wrote Red, White, and Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston created a sapphic teenage book that circles around the disappearance of Shara Wheeler. A month before Chloe Green’s high school graduation, her rival for valedictorian, prom queen Shara Wheeler, kisses her and disappears. Chloe discovers a letter by Shara, addressed to her, and invites her to find the rest of the letters that will eventually lead to her. But she discovers that she was not the only one who Shara has kissed goodbye and left letters to. Together with Shara’s boyfriend, the quarterback Smith, and her bad boy neighbour Rory, they go on a hunt to find out where Shara has disappeared. This story is filled with mystery, dramatic secrets coming to the light, and your typical high school identity crises. I rated this book five stars, as you might have noted from the way I am praising this story. Let me explain to you why this is such an amazing book.

WARNING! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

This book uses some of my favourite tropes. It has academic enemies to lovers. It has enemies to friends to lovers. It has people being utterly obsessed with each other. What more can a girl ask for? Seeing how both Shara and Chloe cannot stop thinking and planning every single thing in their lives around each other only gave me life. Is this the most healthy love? No, far from it, but the story is so compelling that you can’t do anything but root for them. Don’t even get me started on the journey that Rory and Smith go on. From being childhood best friends, to being enemies in high school, to being forced to work together solving Shara’s disappearance, to realising they always had a crush on each other instead of Shara. The drama and the mystery in this book compliment so well together.

Another thing that I love is the representation in this book. Not only are the two female main characters in love with each other, which we rarely see, lots of other queer identities are represented as well. There are multiple people in Chloe’s friend group that are queer, such as Ash who is nonbinary. This story is set in a very conservative and religious southern town in the US, which makes it difficult for these teenagers to be able to be out and proud without any repercussions. But that

does not stop them, especially after realising how many of their peers are queer as well. It’s so refreshing to see queer representation being included in such a casual yet important way in a plot, which not a lot of authors are able to do so skillfully.

All in all, this book got 5 stars from me. While it’s not the best quality piece of literature that is out there like classics such as Wuthering Heights or any of Shakespeare’s plays, I still enjoyed every little thing about this story. If you enjoyed their other books Red, White, and Royal Blue, or One Last Stop, you will absolutely fall in love with this book as well. Casey Mcquiston has a new book coming out soon called The Pairing, which follows the story of two bisexual exes that accidentally book the same European food and wine tour, and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they’re over each other (which they are definitely not). I cannot wait to see what they will write in the future, as I know I will be obsessed with every single release they put out. But if you love a fun and captivating book about a lesbian academic enemies to lovers, do check out I Kissed Shara Wheeler.

ueer ictionary

BOOTS: emphasising a sentiment. Instead of saying “you look fierce” you would say “you look fierce boots.” For extra emphasis you could say “boots the house down” or “the house down boots.”

BEAT / TO BEAT: applying make-up to a face. “Your make-up looks beat” is then a compliment.

CAMP: something that is over-the-top eccentric, ridiculous, unexpected, and striking. Think of the Met Gala 2019 outfits, especially Lady Gaga’s.

CLOCKING / TO CLOCK: to call someone out, usually on a flaw that they were trying to hide. “Finally someone clocked her on those eyebrows.”

GAGGED / TO GAG: being so in awe that you are unable to speak. “That dress had me gagging!”

HOUSE: a group of drag queens who are all mentored by the same ‘mother’ of the house. Famous example is the House of LaBeija.

KIKI: when drag queens chill and gossip. Not to be confused with kai-kai.

KAI-KAI: two drag queens having sex. Not to be confused with kiki.

READ / TO READ: the art of playfully insulting someone. The word originated in the ballroom scene, just watch Paris is Burning. Because reading is what?

FUNDAMENTAL!

SHADE: describing an insult. Throwing shade means that you are insulting or critiquing someone, usually based on their flaws.

SICKENING: being so good-looking it makes others sick. “That outfit was sickening!”

SLAAAY: a term of affection. When something or someone looks good, you would say “slaayy.”

SNATCHED: small waisted, or otherwise attractive and on-point. “Your waist looks snatched in that dress!”

TEA: gossip. “Spilling the tea” means to tell the gossip.

WERK: to own it on the runway, or just in general.

YAAAAASS: term of encouragement. When someone shows off their outfit and it looks good, you would use “yaaasss.” Could be accompanied by some finger snaps for emphasising.

QUEER FAVOURITES

The people have spoken! We asked you guys to fill out a form with your favourite queer things to celebrate all things pride!

Between music, shows and books, we gathered recommendations left and right. Take notes!

Television series

Orange is the new black Young Royals

RuPaul’s drag race Good Omens

Eurovision Song Contest Heartbreak High

Musical artist

Billie Eilish Halsey

Honey Dijon

Jojo Siwa

Renee Rapp

Troye Sivan

The boys in the band Anne+ Call me by your name

The rocky horror picture show Pride Love, Simon Botttoms

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Red, white and royal blue

Movies Books

Cinderella is dead Red, white and royal blue

The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo

This is how you lose a time war

Celebrity

Billie Eilish

Chappel Roan

Hunter Schafer

Johnathan Bailey

Trixie Mattel

Emma d’Arcy

James Charles Halsey

My lady of mercy - The last Dinner party

LUNCH - Billie Eilish

Babylon - Lady Gaga

Born this way - Lady Gaga

(Anything by Lady Gaga)

Good luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan

I wanna dance with somebodyWhitney Houston

Queer place in Groningen

Dorothy’s Bar Warhol

Hair by Ben

MOVIE REVIEW

All of Us Strangers: Definitely Strange, But Hauntingly Alluring

by: Eva Rebecca Swarts

The movie All of Us Strangers (2023), directed by Andrew Haigh and starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, follows Adam (Scott), a lonely screenwriter suffering from writer’s block. He’s living in an apartment building in London that’s mostly empty except for his neighbour Harry (Mescal), and, after an awkward first meeting, the two end up in a romantic relationship with each other. All the while, Adam regularly travels back to his hometown to visit his parents’ former home to seek inspiration for his work. Here he reminisces over childhood memories with his parents, who passed away when he was a kid, and it is quickly revealed that Adam is in conversation with their ghosts who are still living at the house just as they did 30 years ago.

The movie is based on the novel Strangers (1987) by Taichi Yamada that was translated from Japanese into English in 2003 by Wayne Lammers. Though the plot is mostly the same, the 2023 movie adaptation integrated the queer relationship between Scott’s and Mescal’s characters, appealing to a modern audience with its wonderful interpretation of what it means to care for someone. On another note, Yamada’s novel includes a slightly sinister aspect to Adam’s interactions with his deceased parents, namely that the ghosts are slowly sucking the life out of him. This element of the story is present in the Japanese horror-movie adaptation from 1988, however it’s not much addressed in the recent reworking.

All of Us Strangers is described as a British romantic fantasy movie, which I would agree with to a certain extent, but this may spark expectations that are very different from the reality of the film. In all honesty, I went into this movie knowing very little about the plot, but it had initially excited me due to my partiality for its main actors. It is safe to say that I walked away completely mind blown, and slightly confused. It addresses some heavy topics, such as loss, grief, loneliness, and addiction. This accompanied by its unique cinematography and heart wrenching storyline makes for an intense watching experience that, though slightly disturbing, I still appreciated.

If a story about a writer battling with grief, that includes a queer romance, ghosts, and a bunch of cinematically integrated metaphors exploring the emotional journey of the main character sounds exciting to you, then I would highly recommend this movie. But, it’s definitely not for everyone due to its careful and slow progression, which contributes to the dreamlike state of the film. That being said, the actors in this film are phenomenal and I personally quite enjoyed watching a movie that didn’t remind me of anything I had seen before.

MARY GEORGE &

By: Alexia Mihalache

Lust. For Power.

Besides the period costumes and the pretentious way of speaking, 17th century England is pretty much similar to this day. It’s all about money and status.

The series, based on Benjamin Woolley’s The King’s Assassin, tells the story of Mary and George Villiers, a mother and her son who take their scheming as far as necessary in order to ascend in society.

From the opening scene, where Mary holds her newborn in her arms and decides on the name George, it is obvious she is going to be the mastermind of this duo. Julianne Moore plays the role of an outstandingly smart woman who, once freed from her abusive husband, is left with no liquid assets and is forced to find a way to secure her spot among the “the crème de la crème”. Her solution is George (Nicholas Galitzine). Even though in the beginning he seems to have no potential for what his mother wants to achieve, the education he receives in France (Mary’s call, of course) changes him completely. From an innocent boy who was foolishly in love with a servant, he becomes a handsome gentleman, with distinct manners, ready to enter the king’s court.

Introducing King James I of England and focusing on the interactions between the head of the country and George, the series brings to the table another crucial aspect: sexuality. It is not yet proven if the king was engaging in sexual relations with men during his reign, but it is historically known that same-sex relationships were happening back in the 1600s, not exhibited in plain sight but present behind curtains. In the palace, the curtain is the door of the king’s bedchamber, where George progressively manages to gain terrain as he follows his mother’s instructions.

This theme has been adopted in cinematography before. The Favourite, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, follows the sexual relationships of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), the granddaughter of James I, with two women. However, Mary & George is more explicit and follows not only the relationship between the king and the one who eventually became the 1st Duke of Buckingham, but also the affair between Mary and a brothel keeper. These relationships are not about love, though Mary seems to be deeply affected when her lover is captured. At the end of the day, they are about satisfaction, dominance and games. “Bodies are just bodies”, as Mary says.

This limited series, consisting only of 7 episodes, definitely does not disappoint in terms of acting. Nicholas Galitzine is a new face in Hollywood. You might be familiar with him from Red, White and Royal Blue, where he plays another queer role, or you’ve seen him in the new movie The Idea of You (if you’re a Directioner, this one’s for you). Despite his rather recent debut, he manages not only to portray a handsome young man in this piece of British history, but skilfully succeeds in putting forward a character whose development is extremely dramatic. As for Julianne Moore, her brilliance compels the audience to leave aside any bad judgement about her character’s twisted means. I am not afraid to admit that I found myself rooting for her the entire time.

For me, this series was more than just entertainment on a rainy day. It was a reminder to lift the veil and see beyond these romanticised versions of past eras. Cruelty existed. Scheming as well. History was ugly at times and I was impressed to see such an open representation of it. Having said all this, Mary & George is the perfect choice for those with an affinity for English accents, who keep an open mind and can accept reality as it is, sometimes brutal, but always chaotic.

PASTA SHAPES

I will start off by saying that even though most pasta has the exact same ingredients, they all have a different taste. And no, I will not hear any “but there’s no difference” or “it's literally the same thing but different shapes”, I have my evidence. Source? Trust me bro, let the Italian cook.

There are many factors that have to be considered when choosing the right combination of pasta shape and sauce. Things such as structure, flour type, and thickness are big elements that one must consider when choosing the right sauce.

Generally, more structured types, such as penne, rigatoni or bucatini, work better for thicker and richer sauces such as amatriciana, carbonara and ragú. This is because more structured pasta has some kind of space in which the sauce can sneak into; penne and rigatoni both have some ridges and are hollow, bucatini has a hole poking through and these elements help the sauce to really stick to the pasta.

On the other hand, more smooth pasta such as linguine, farfalle or fusilli work best with lighter sauces, with fish or pesto alla genovese. This is due to their lighter feel. Because of the lack of ridges or hollowness, they do not hold as much sauce in themselves and thus are better suited for lighter and less rich sauces. And, in my humble opinion, farfalle and fusilli are the best shapes for cold pasta salads.

Last factor that has to be taken into account for an Italian approved pasta is the length of the pasta. Long pasta, such as spaghetti, tagliatelle or pappardelle, are best with meat or fish based sauces, rich sauces. Shorter pasta is best coupled with lighter sauces based on vegetables or cheese, or in specific cases in broth or minestrone.

And please for the love of all that is good, put a good amount of salt in the water when you make pasta. It needs to be as salty as the sea.

Here is a list of my favourite pasta combinations, though some of these shapes are originated to pair with other sauces, I find that these combinations are the ones that work best for me.

Fusilli

a nice ricotta and spinach sauce, maybe some crushed walnuts on top as well.

Trofie

classic pesto alla genovese, the full deal with potatoes and green beans.

Spaghetti Bucatini

aglio, olio e peperoncino. Garlic, olive oil and chilli

Carbonara. The hole poking through this shape will soak up all the goodness that is carbonara

Conchiglie

four cheese sauce. The sauce gets inside the pasta and it fills up with all the goodness of the cheese.

pasta salad with black olives, cherry tomatoes, arugula, mozzarella, red onion and capers

Broccoli and sausage. Throw it in a pan together with some grana padano and I guarantee you will be obsessed.

Minestrone or soup. If you want to add an extra kick to your soups you can throw in some capellini with your soup and they will absorb all the good flavours

Pastina. Combine with broth and grana padano and make pastina, a typical italian comfort food bolognese, you can never go wrong with tagliatelle alla bolognese

PASTA 101

Have you ever wondered what the perfect pasta sauce and shape combination was? Are you in need of pasta inspiration for your next lazy dinner? Look no further than this beautiful article.

Presented to you by the one and only Italian member of the Mesazine, Ginevra herself. I am very passionate about my pasta (never beating the stereotype) and I am always quite vocal about choosing the right shape for the sauce you want. Keep in mind that this is my personal - yet professional - opinion, and considering I am Italian and I eat so much pasta my blood could literally be made of it, I have the qualifications and experience to speak on this topic.

Procedure Ingredients

Flour Eggs Salt

On a first note, with store bought pasta you would do around 100/120 grams per person, but since homemade pasta has eggs and it is a bit heavier, I would stick to around 90/100 grams per person. For every 100 grams of flour, calculate one large egg.

Put the salt into a bowl or on a clean table top. Originally you make this on a wooden plank that you specifically hold in the house for pasta making, but since I am just a student, I like doing this initial part in a bowl. This also prevents a lot of flour going around and on your floor.

Put the flour in your bowl or on your counter, and then add your eggs one by one. Make sure that the shells don't get in there because that will be nasty when you have to cut the pasta itself. Then, start by mixing everything together.

After you take it out of the fridge, cut it into smaller balls and flatten it with a rolling pin.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Your pasta dough will be ready for chilling when it is a little stretchy but not too much that it creates long strings, just enough that it does not rip apart immediately. When it’s ready, cover the dough with cling wrap and chill it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Start by running it through the widest setting of your pasta machine. Still in the widest setting, fold the piece of pasta a few times before moving onto the next smaller setting. One by one go through the settings of the pasta machine, smaller and smaller until you get the right thickness you want.

From this you’re pretty much on your own. Depending on what shape you want, you have to cut the pasta accordingly.

Personality Test

by: Jolanda Zweers

Find out which MESAzine member you are!

Answer these questions and then see which symbols you have picked the most.

What music do you listen to?

Dad rock

Spanish music

Screamy music

Taylor Swift

What is your favourite food?

Lasagna

Stamppot

Chicken curry

Sushi

What is your favourite movie?

The Goonies

The Lion King

Bohemian Rhapsody

Promising Young Woman

What do you collect?

Books

Coins

Magnets

Vinyls

What is your dream vacation destination?

A tour through Vietnam

London

Natural reserve in Tanzania

Florence

How would you describe your clothing style?

Office/Casual

Vintage

Donna from Mammia mia

Your neighbourhood friendly goth

What is your favourite drink?

Orange Juice

Estathe Lemon

Aperol Spritz

You are like Ginny!

It is very likely you also love F1 and Spanish men. You can be chaotic at times, but in the end you always get things done. I don’t know anyone who actually hates you, those people are just jealous of your ethereal beauty.

Chai Latte

You are like Alexia!

Fun and lovely is how people describe you. You get excited very easily, but that is what makes you so adorable. When you walk in a room you make the whole place shimmer. You probably also spotted that reference immediately.

You are like Kim!

Definition of a girlboss. You can work hard, but you can also play hard. You are always able to stand your ground. Very slay person overall. However, you are most likely to faint.

You are like Jolanda!

During your teens you probably experienced an emo phase and never fully grew out of that. Your make-up skills are literal perfection and people always ask you to help them with theirs, which you gladly do because you are such a good friend.

MESAzine games

M

S

E

Z

I N

A

SPELLING BEE

Write as many words as you can with these letters.

You must include the letter in the central yellow tile.