ROUX - Issue 12, Mar 2024

ROUX Student Magazine

EST 2022

Issue 12, 21st March 2024

Luxembourg

Print run: 515 copies

Chief Editor: ROUX Ruby ROUXby

2 Go forth, students! Interview

We are thankful to: Office of Student Life, Veerle Waterplas, Sonja Di Renzo, Antonio Tavan, Repro Team, Espace Cultures, Anouk Wies, Karin Langumier, Bianca Pirrelli, Andy Adams of the Alumni Network, Véronique Heitz and Rotondes, Student Lounge Belval and all children of SAUL, Dalmat CoffeeHouse, Julie Toussaint, LLC, Julie Jephos, Inès Planchenault, and Silvia from Café Saga.

ROUX is thrilled to announce its partnership with RTL Today Radio.

Find the magazine online: https://issuu.com/rouxmagazine

Instagram: @roux.magazine

Certain pages designed using images from rawpixel.com

Cover hand-drawn by Jason Billard

Poster p. 12–13 hand-drawn by José Fernandes Maia

©ROUX Student Magazine

ROUXby Hues and a Springtime Opus

Happiness is a butterfly… It escapes from my hands into moonlight.

– Lana Del Rey, Happiness is a Butterfly

Spring welcomes happiness and delight, and this ROUX issue is a certain sign of the upcoming budding blossoms. Personally, I salute spring with blood oranges, the beauty of blood oranges is the perfect way to begin this season. They are a unique seasonal fruit, their beautiful burst of ruby hues helps to celebrate the arrival of the new season with love and glory. Despite their vampyric moniker, these oranges truly offer cheer – a panacea for the darkness.

Regardless of a blood orange being enough to greet the spring season for some, we at ROUX are here to be your devoted friends to embrace the upcoming season in assorted ways. For breakfast, embark on a poetic stroll to the Heartbreak Hotel, or if a change of landscape takes your fancy, how about a digestive trip to one of Luxembourg’s four surrounding neighbours of the greater region? If you prefer a hypnagogic hike, saunter the Tower’s limestone stairs and discover what requited love entails.

Plus, courtesy of OSL and the university, a wonderful selection of programmes and services tailored to support your physical as well as mental health await you. There are classes such as yoga to help you focus on your physical well-being, and emotional support through psychologists to help you focus on your mental wellbeing. Furthermore, OSL hosts events, including the recent flea market earlier this month. Just know, OSL is guaranteed to always have your back.

As Lana Del Rey vocalised, happiness is a circular occurrence, or a butterfly that escapes from our hands into the moonlight – and so is spring. Spring, is a time to make new beginnings and to gently shed the layers that the winter has left us before spiriting away. Join us and let us graciously, or not, salute spring together!

By a post-modern tease, Jo Yi Hoon

ROUX

STUDENTS MOTIVATED

by Zoltan Tajti

- HOW TO TEACH WELL

One of the best courses I have ever attended during my studies – at four different universities in three different countries – was Dr. Helen Kavvadia’s* course Economic Diplomacy at our university. I attended it as a philosopher, i.e. a non-economist, and I still enjoyed the hell out of it.

Helen was kind enough to sit down with ROUX for an online interview to talk about the secrets of engaging students and making a class desirable to attend. It’s worth a read, especially if one decides to pursue a career in conveying knowledge to others. We also touched on how teaching others influences one’s research.

interview interview interview interview interview interview

2

FILM MOTIVATINGPANORAMASTUDENTS

The whole group worked enthusiastically during classes, and also during individual and group home assignments. We all felt very involved. How did you achieve that?

The most important thing is that I trust my students greatly. I know that they always have adequate theoretical knowledge, so I only add field actualities to the class, so that they can make use of their knowledge, and develop further skills.

“Students thus have the opportunity to complement their existing background knowledge with empirical exposure in a controlled class environment.”

Also, I want to provide students with an environment where they can work in three settings: individual, small group, and whole class. This is very important because real work is exactly like that: you are expected to be able to work on your own, in task groups, and together with your whole department.

This way, everyone can bring their own knowledge into the room, and also learn how to cooperate with others.

Classes were held in blocks; we had four-hour lessons biweekly. Was that a conscious decision or a scheduling misfortune?

Classes were every other week because, this way, students had the time to reflect on what was done in class. Also, this way there is more time to prepare the homework, more time to deepen the knowledge. Finally, longer classes mean more in-depth fieldwork. I think this provides a more effective learning experience. I, myself, also study more efficiently this way.

“Corporate training is also like this. Sessions are intensive and interactive, and there is a few weeks break between them. This makes people perform better, and most importantly it makes them bond better.”

But again: I can always rely on students’ knowledge, which makes this kind of teaching method possible.

How did you choose the topics of the individual sessions?

I always bring real-life case studies. Academic texts are too long to cover in single classes; I find it better if I develop a field study based on a theoretical text.

I always chose an up-to-date topic, which means the case studies are influenced by daily news. This gives the sessions a sense of actuality and practical applicability.

“Applicability of what we learn is a good motivator, but working on real life challenges has another advantage. Since what is in the daily news cannot be planned ahead, my classes always have a surprise element; and I have found this also motivates students.”

Does your teaching method influence your research?

Very much so. Covering the cases with students helps me digest my research material; I learn a lot from my students. Teaching is a two-way experience. We learn a lot from each other. This is very important. Also, teaching and research are different modus operandi; they require a different type of attention.

“Teaching is interactive, while research is reflective. I find it better if, akin to my students, during the semester I absorb. Then, I reflect – i.e. do my writing – during the summer break.”

I’d rather not mix these two operating and focus modes. Both the input and reflecting on it are more efficient if they don’t really overlap.

ROUX 3

Luxembourg: The Heart of Europe

By Auriane Möck

Luxembourg is often referred to as the “Heart of Europe”, not only for its cultural diversity or financial involvement but also for its geographical location. Due to its small size, it is very easy to travel quickly from Luxembourg to one of the three surrounding countries. So why not take advantage of it while you‘re studying in Luxembourg? So here are four relatively affordable options that can be seen over a weekend or perhaps even in one day.

BELGIUM - Brussels

For only €10, you can buy a train ticket at CFL International to travel to Brussels. And after three hours, you will arrive in the capital of Belgium , the de facto capital of the European Union. It is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city known for its rich historical heritage and diverse cultural scene. So, it would be worth it to stay the night and also explore the nightlife of Brussels, like, for example, the jam sessions and live music at Sounds. Every morning there is a fleamarket on Place du Jeu de Balle where you could find some cool souvenirs to bring home from your trip. During the day, it is worth checking out the street art, which is spread all over the city, giving the city an artistic flair. The Marolles neighbourhood in particular features a diverse collection of art, from graffiti to murals to sculptures, installations, and more.

FRANCE - Strasbourg

In three hours, you could also take the Flixbus to Strasbourg. If you book in advance, you can get to the capital of Alsace for only €12. Strasbourg impresses with its beautiful half-timbered houses along the river Ill, which are adorned with many flowers, especially in spring and summer. I personally really enjoyed my visit to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Parc de l‘Orangerie. You should also take advantage of being in Alsace to eat a typical tarte flambée made in Alsace and all the other delicious Alsatian food.

EXPEDITIONS FROM LUXEMBOURG

NETHERLANDS - Maastricht

In addition to the three direct neighbouring countries, you are able to travel to the Netherlands quite quickly. In just three hours, you can take the Flixbus for €12 to Maastricht, the southernmost student-friendly city in the Netherlands. You can hire a bike directly at the train station and explore the city the traditional Dutch way. While cycling through the city, I suggest paying attention to the bells of the town hall tower ringing every half hour. Maybe you'll be able to recognise the song since the carillon, which consists of 49 bells, always plays different pieces of music, like Schiller’s Ode to Joy or John Cage’s In a Landscape. If you enjoy bookstores or appreciate repurposed old architectural structures transformed into contemporary designs, you should check out the Boekhandel Dominicanen.

GERMANY - Trier

Did you ever notice the bus 306 in Belval going to Trier? Why not just hop on it and make a day trip to Trier? A bus ticket costs €3, and the bus goes back and forth between Belval and Trier the whole day during the weekdays. On Saturdays, you could take the 303 from Kirchberg Luxexpo. In Trier‘s city centre, in addition to the normal shopping streets, there are several well-preserved Roman buildings, which are also UNESCO World Heritage sites. Also, if history isn‘t your thing, you can go on a wine tour while you are in the Moselle wine region, or you can take a short hike to the Sirzen waterfall (Sirzenicher Wasserfall) past the Marian column (Mariensäule). Alternatively, you can enjoy a shopping day in Trier, which tends to be less expensive than in Luxembourg. Every other Saturday, there is also a flea market at the Messepark Trier. Before you take the bus back to Luxembourg, you can round off the evening in a bar right on the Moselle, Moselsperle Trier, or you could go to one of the events offered by Mergener Hof or Zuppermarket, like comedy or poetry slams.

The Editorial Meeting

An uncomfortable silence permeated the room, broken only by the rustling of pages as the editor went through the text in front of her. Finally, she arrived at the end, put the pages aside, pinched the bridge of her nose, and looked up at the writer sitting in front of her as he smiled politely.

“So,” she began, “I have a few notes.”

“Absolutely, happy to take feedback. Lay it on me.”

“First off, the protagonist; calling him ‘Doyle Tective’ is a bit first draft, but I guess some people might find that kind of thing appealing. Stranger things have happened in this business. What I want to look at is where he is repeatedly referred to as a ‘century detective’, not sure what you were going for there.”

“Oh right, sure. So, you know how people talk about some detectives being ‘hard-boiled’? I wanted to make sure my readers knew my detective was even more badass, so I looked up egg preparation methods that were longer than hard boiling, and apparently the Chinese do this thing called a century egg which can take months to be ready, so I went with that.”

The editor coughed in a suspiciously groan-like way. The excited sparks continued to dance in the writer’s eyes – the sincerity of his facial expression unperturbed. The editor collected herself and turned to look at her list of notes.

“Then there’s the length or rather the pacing. Now, I appreciate that this is a short story submission, and you clearly wanted to write a detective story, but normally we would expect something more than several paragraphs of gritty internal monologue only for the detective to identify the killer almost as soon as he arrives on the scene. The method by which he does so is also a bit dodgy, it makes it seem that either the cops were stupid for missing it, or that the determination is not as sure as the text wants it to be.”

SHORT STORY

“Well, he’s a brilliant but misunderstood detective, who could do the job of the so-called professionals in his sleep, solving the deadliest cases of serial killers and such, but instead is relegated to freelancing and doing jobs that are beneath him. I do cover this in the monologue, to be fair.”

“Yes, I see that you do, the multiple references to how he was too brilliant for the police recruiters to recognise. I was going to mention: those do get a tad repetitive.”

For some strange reason, the editor was briefly reminded of a colleague of hers telling her that this particular writer had first tried his hand at being an editor, but had been turned down by a major publishing house.

“To be blunt,” she continued, “I can’t say much as to the overall quality of this text.”

“You mean you won’t publish my text?”

“I’m saying no magazine with anything resembling editorial standards would publish this text.”

“Ok. Which means...?”

The editor sighed deeply. “We’ll pencil you in for next month’s issue.”

”Amazing, thank you.”

Written by Jack Moller, designed by Jason Billard

Dance of the leaves

Je sais plus quoi penser

Je cherche qu'une âme similaire à la mienne

Une âme qui cherche la paix

Un Jardin dans lequel je puisse reposer la tête

La mienne

Des fleurs qui acceptent mon visage perdu

Reposer mes pensées turbulentes

Mes sentiments chaotiques

Je cherche qu'une âme similaire à la mienne

Une âme qui cherche une astuce pour trouver la paix

De la paix dans mon Coeur

Je regarde les ombres qui tombent sur mon mur

Perdues et perdue

Ma tête ne se repose pas

Turbulente

Je cherche qu'une âme comme la mienne

Je cherche que la réalité de mon âme

La réalité de mon rêve

Oh, je vais la trouver quand ?

Une larme sorte de mon oeil

Je la dis, quand tu passes mon visage

Prends toute la douleur de mon Coeur

Avec toi

Et quand tu passeras

Fais moi rire

Pour que toute la douleur se sente bienvenue

English version:

I don’t know what to think anymore

I'm looking for a soul similar to mine

A soul seeking peace

A garden in which I can rest my head

Mine

Flowers that accept my lost face

Rest my turbulent thoughts

My chaotic feelings

I'm looking for a soul similar to mine

A soul looking for a way to find peace

Peace in my heart

I watch the shadows fall on my wall

Lost and lost

My head does not rest

Turbulent

I'm looking for a soul like mine

I'm looking for the reality of my soul

The reality of my dream

Oh, when will I find her?

A tear comes out of my eye

I say, when you pass my face

Take all the pain from my heart

With you

And when you pass

Make me laugh

To make all the pain feel welcome

POEMS

Whispers

My eyes are looking for yours

In these wide worlds

The rain flooding my tears

They run, each faster than the other

Oh, whisperer of my heart

My look into the distance

My heart knows what direction to take

It bleeds in memory of you

The rain flooding my tears

Each one waiting for your caring hand

Oh, whisperer of my heart

My eyes are looking for yours

And I am yearning for your unmistaken love

poems by Alma Karisik

Statistically, Luxembourg has the second-lowest tampon tax in Europe, only behind Ireland. Nonetheless, for students and anyone in Luxembourg who enjoys good finds for their monthly woes, discovering hygiene products that are light on the pocket is a challenge. Also, we have some personalised tips on alleviating the pain, tried and tested by ROUX members. Feel free to let us know if they were helpful too!.

Curses, has it already been one month ? ? ?

Tips, Remedies and Magic for Those

where tf does this go

Vampyric

Red Hours

Tip 1:

In Luxembourg City, there are machines installed that distribute free tampons and sanitary towels in a handful of public toilets. And let’s not forget uni.lu provides students with free sanitary and contraceptive products. You can find them in the student lounge and on the ground floor of the LLC.

Tip 2:

Travelling to a DM store in Germany: board bus 360 from Belval portes des science, and in one hour and a half, you’ll be in the enchanting city of Trier. Many DM’s are located throughout Trier city centre, where you can purchase hygiene products and other goods such as tea, makeup, dry organic goods and household items – all at a modest price.

10 TIPS AND REMEDIES

Tip 3:

Chamomile tea with a hot water bottle is always a great concoction, warming body and soul. This combo also possibly helps to reduce the need to use over-the-counter remedies, which may aid us in sleep or when we must move around (despite how much we would rather lie down). If your body needs the meds, then go for it – there is simply no shame or guilt at all in doing so.

Tip 4:

When it comes to any cravings for food or drink – remember to always listen to your body; it knows best what you need. That being said, never feel bad or guilty if your period cravings create an insatiable hunger for crisps or sweets (or pickles in my case). Your body knows what it wants! Feed it!

Tip 5:

A lot of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant foods and beverages can sometimes make physical pains ease off a little and make us feel a little bit better in our skin. Cranberry juice, plenty of vegetables and fruits and warm oatmeal are big recommendations of mine.

Tip 6:

If you’re struggling a lot with PMS (I personally sometimes cannot even recognise myself anymore when experiencing extreme symptoms), make sure to find means to ground yourself - we might feel like the world is falling apart and that we are going crazy, which, admittedly, we kind of are. But luckily it’s temporary. If possible, try taking a day or two off, vent out any thoughts that may be torturing you and allow yourself to have plenty of rest. Productivity is not the most important value of life, so don’t feel guilty about giving yourself the rot-in-bed time you need.

Tip 7:

Hear me out… NETTLES. If you’re able to move past the trauma of an unpleasant encounter with their stingy leaves, you might discover a magnificent medical plant with many healing properties. Nettle magic can become an aid not just in alleviating the menstrual pain, but also help regulate the amount of blood you lose and the duration of periods.

There are two ways to go about it. The first would necessitate taking a stroll in a local park or forest. Once you spot a nettle plant (they are everywhere), use gloves to protect your hands and collect them in a plastic bag. At home, you can brew a little potion, which by itself is a fun activity – I trust you to consult recipes and instructions online. (If, however, you don’t have time for this tomfoolery, just pop to your local pharmacy and ask for some nettle tea).

Tip 8:

Masturbation works like a miracle for me when it comes to period cramps, especially during the first two days of a new cycle. The endorphins released with an orgasm can relieve stress and also temporarily reduce period pain. Also, the muscle contractions from an orgasm might help to reduce cramps further. But of course, everyone is different and if you don’t feel comfortable masturbating during your period maybe you can find someone to cuddle with you because it has a similar effect endorphin-wise.

XOXO from ROUX girlies with love and tenderness

ROUX

OSL: Campus Sport and Campus Wellbeing

In our last issue, we already talked about the Office of Student Life (OSL) and the amazing work that they do for students. Surely, you have by now also heard about Campus Sport and Campus Wellbeing which is also organised by the OSL. But did you know that especially Campus Wellbeing has undergone great changes to help the university’s students with stress relief and general daily wellbeing?

Campus Sport and Campus Wellbeing offers several classes and workshops for students. These classes are all taught by experienced instructors at least once a week and free of charge. The offer is very varied, ranging from football and dance to meditation and yoga. These classes are either around the Belval or Kirchberg campus.

However, you need to register quickly, as these classes are in high demand. And that is not all – this year, the Office of Student Life is expanding the Campus Wellbeing program. As a response to the rising need for mental health support within the university, there are going to be new classes and workshops. Beginning this March and running up to June, they plan to offer more specialised courses with sessions only for students and sessions only for staff in cooperation with the Inclusion Office and Psychological support. Provided by the university, these classes are a perfect way to support your mental health and improve your academic performance. Tune in for easy access to a supportive student community! :) .

text: Fábio Conceição design: Kristina Shatokhina

GO FORTH STUDENTS

GIRL DINNER

Girl Boss. Girl Math. Girl Dinner.

The past year marked the beginning of the global girlification era. We too join the wild ride on this unhinged popculture wave, if a little late, to discuss what girl dinner means for us. Note for the last of y’all with zero social media presence: the term “girl dinner” refers to a popular online trend about women eating random snacks instead of what is assumed to be a conventional meal. While it would offer us a chance to critique the ongoing romanticisation of female eating disorders and modern lifestyle damaging to our wellbeing, we are not going there today. Instead, we reclaim this term and make it serve for our – and your – comfort.

Lazily crafted for the fierce souls that saunter through the earth, girl dinner delights in a diet of pickles, perfume, literature, song, cheese… and anything we can catch with our greedy hands. We see girl dinner less as a snack, and more as a smorgasbord of morsels to satisfy all five tastes. The amount should be tailored to your appetite, based on your needs, and it should resonate with your very soul. All of that makes it so that this unique experience is best to be conducted alone. Here, some of our writers came together to share their visions of girl dinner.

me and the imaginary companion i have fabricated for myself at 2.00 AM, who’s extremely entertained by my food choices

POP-CULTURAL MUSINGS

A post-modern sleaze’s interpretation

Girl dinner… a magnificent little treat to indulge in one of my many personas and a chance to decorate life with romance.

Here is a personal recipe of mine to create a girl’s dinner: one should sit in a candlelit space, ideally in a Haussmannian or historical building decorated with antiques – accompanied by songs of memory that resonate within you, as well as some literature from the past. Anaïs Nin, Sylvia Plath, Françoise Sagan and Dorothy Parker are among my favourites, whose words reveal many truths – such as the exquisite agony of loving love itself, as to love in reality is always insufferably painful. Sometimes these tales can be melancholic, other times they can be full of spite and deep-rooted anger, and perhaps hope too.

As for the food itself, it is a sacred and exciting rite to lovingly devour random titbits of bits and bobs that your heart desires. For myself, this often includes chocolate, bread, cheesy triangular corn crisps (or chips) and raspberries, whilst enjoying water from Saint-Galmier served in a vintage wine glass. Truthfully, I believe a girl’s dinner is beyond sustenance – it is about healing, love and being in the moment.

– Jo Yi

Just a taste of my inner indecisiveness

For me, girl dinner is the freedom of not having to choose, a moment in my life where I don’t have to make a decision. I tend to feel overwhelmed by the countless options that I have, by all the possible ways to explore. It feels like I can never make the right choice, as if there was always a better alternative that I could have chosen.

But at a girl dinner I don’t have to decide in favour of one thing that I love. I can simply eat a little bit of everything and combine whatever I want without fear of judgement for any unique combinations – after all, it’s just me, myself, and I. Mostly I enjoy starting with some houmous, and at one point I will just dip whatever I fancy into the houmous.. And for real, have you ever tried raspberry on houmous?

For me, it is a moment when I let go of all social conventions, freeing myself from any expectations and letting myself be. By doing so, I am able to listen and follow my inner voice. Having my own sovereignty, without having to adhere to any rules and to go with the flow, is very empowering.

And maybe I just end up dancing through the kitchen with houmous in one hand and raspberries in the other.. Girl dinners are freedom of choice and expectations and bring me one step closer to finding inner peace.

– Auriane

16 POP-CULTURAL MUSINGS

Original sin or smth

When I think about girl dinner, my mind draws images from 1966 Chezch New Wave movie “Daisies”. Following the hedonistic pursuit of two young women, both named Maries, the infamous film shows them behaving promiscuously, fooling men and indulging in gluttony. “If the world is spoilt, so must we become” – say Maries when the movie starts, and taste the apple from the fruit tree, beginning their glamorous journey of selfdestruction. Tracing this allegory to the lush garden of Eden, shall we say an apple was the original girl dinner – a story and a fruit that kickstarted gastronomic gender division?

A homage to mythical women and goddesses, I find apples and almond nuts (in sufficient quantity!) a perfect dinner that is nutritious both for my body and soul. Another thing I always have in my fridge is cheese, so add this to the plate. Likewise, I’m with Auriane on houmous (I put it together with the salad) and with Jo Yi on the candles (take care to not set off your dorm’s fire alarm).

I enjoy using vintage Villeroy&Boch handpainted plates I thrifted, which turn anything I put on them into a work of art.

The main lessons to take from the trend :

(i) don’t punish yourself if you don’t have time and energy to be a good housewife; (ii) everything tastes better when romanticised.

– Kristina

bro wtf is she eating

17 ROUX

In recent years, it has become undeniable that video games have become attached to the anatomy of a third-person over-theshoulder shooter with realistic visuals. It’s not a necessarily strict formula (yes, it is), but it’s a very common one, and it is, in most cases, a guarantee for freshly recruited gamers and veterans to take a bite from. A safe bet, so to speak. Specifically, in the past ten years, we have seen games obediently adapting to this recipe that most AAA titles have cooked up. And while many certainly enjoy their moviebut-with-a-controller-in-hand experience, I can’t say that I’m too fond of it. The recipe has long gone stale, and it has been presented to me so often that even the intricate cutlery and silver plate it’s been served on do not distract me from the mediocre taste.

We may not consider this often, but our curiosity and a game’s ability to be engaging are what keep us fixated on the medium. Ideally, at least. Indeed, many video games have stopped taking advantage of the fact that they’re not just a visual medium but an interactive one. Interactivity might be the meat and potatoes (you might as well roll with the food references) of every game. Many studios seem to overlook this. And it is gravely reflected in phenomena like backlogs, boredom, or a sheer lack of interest when it comes to new releases. This is what leads me back to the previously mentioned, delicious condiment called engagement.

Yes, we all joke about how our unplayed games in our Steam libraries could fill up the shelves of Alexandria. But experiencing this so-called gaming slump, no matter how many new, promising titles are published, can quickly become demotivating; especially

when we think back to our younger selves, who just could not get enough of traversing through the entire mushroom kingdom to get to Bowser. Why has all this joy and excitement been swallowed up? I remember my childhood ecstasy when my mother would allow me some dedicated Nintendo time per day. Now we pay a near fortune in hopes of enjoying a new title — expecting a warm, freshly baked piece of pie and being met with a lukewarm plate of microwaved leftovers from last week. Have we become more sad and serious? Maybe. Have we just become tired of new games because they’ve stopped paying attention to interactive elements, which distances them entirely from the medium they actually are? And, as a result, have games just become less engaging? Let’s think about it.

It’s extremely hard for me to find games that bring me out of my aforementioned slump. Even if I do finish a title, I often catch myself thinking that I would’ve wished for there to be more reason for me to stay glued to the screen and, above all, have fun with the game. Most games don’t make me hungry anymore. They don’t satisfy occasional hunger cravings either. But I might’ve been lucky enough to be introduced to a quite fulfilling meal of a title.

THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE, or:

Why can’t we enjoy new games?

Hotline Miami will be celebrating its 12th birthday this year. A passion project, created by two friends who had not foreseen the tremendous success and cult following that their game later received, while the release of Hotline Miami dates way back, its legacy still shimmers proudly, especially when considering how many things it does right. But how exactly does a top-down shooter written and illustrated/designed by

18 VIDEO GAME ANALYSIS

Sofia Miller

with pixel graphics, which had been released over a decade ago, succeed in taking full advantage of the medium it’s being presented in?

I.) EYE CANDY & GORE

GALORE SPECTACLE — Visuals

It needs to be said that HLM is a paradox within itself. Its presentation both distracts from and emphasises what it is trying to demonstrate. Aesthetically, the game is situated in 1980s Miami, filled to the brim with references to those times. As a whole, HLM attempts a fun ludification of excessive violence while diluting it with cultural aspects of the 1980s. The VHS effects, retro-neon colours, and a synth-wave-heavy soundtrack all serve as garnishes for the mosaic of pixel graphics. There has been no game so far, which has sent me into such a frantic orbit of frenzy, as HLM easily ricochets the player into a colourful vertigo. It is both distracting from the main story of the game as well as enhancing it. As I said, it is a clever paradox within itself. The colour palette of the game consists of bright pinks, blues and purples, while textures in the background and text effects on screen have strobe lite outlines, further accentuating the pulsing atmosphere of excessive hecticness. Establishing a striking vaporwave look, HLM is eye candy at its finest. The art only adds to this, with each character receiving a rather unflattering, charmingly ugly portrait.

ROUX 19

II.) AH, MY EARS! THIS BANGS! — Audio

Snappy, sharp sound effects accentuate the fastpaced action here. Every shot of a gun, flick of a knife, and swing with a bat is accompanied by a swift noise that underlines the adrenaline-pumping nature of HLM. But the more important aspect is the widely praised soundtrack: A racy mixture of synth-wave and heavy electronica, playing HLM occasionally makes you forget that you’re actually a guy on a killing spree against mobsters. Both the visual aspects and the audio provide distraction and engagement from and in favour of the action, throwing the player into a sensory overload. While it is overstimulating, the often hypnotic soundtrack adds a level of excitement to every murderous blow. YEAH! — I have died a dozen times by now, BUT I do want to continue listening to this tune. Die for art and all. In short, HLM knocks it out of the park with the overexposure it provides in the visuals and audio departments.

III.) ONE MORE ROUND, PLEASE? — Interactivity

a) Gameplay

HLM is as fun as it is addicting. And, hey, aren’t video games supposed to be fun? Sure, many developers thoroughly enjoy jacking themselves off to their vision of a grim, punishing video game that wants to tell a tormenting story. It’s not fun because it’s not supposed to be fun, I’ve heard. But a video game is not a film that I can just allow to pass by. With a video game, you should kiiiiind of be capable of keeping your players hooked, one way or another. Whether that is for the sake of atmosphere or the actions you’re performing. Otherwise, it is fairly easy - for me at least - to be quickly understimulated, bored, and, as a result, reluctant to finish the story you chose to present via game. Am I having fun playing as Harry Mason, clumsily bopping a stick on enemies’ heads and running through the fog? Not particularly. Imight be shitting myself out of fear, actually. But boy, am I engaged. Because the atmosphere, story, and artistic elements keep me wanting more. Now, HLM does have all those ingredients, surely. But it is also

20 VIDEO GAME ANALYSIS

tremendously fun to play. At its core, HLM is a visceral slasher combined with stealthy game mechanics. How you clear levels are up to you, as long as you actually eliminate all mobsters, whether you want to get it over quickly or prefer to keep it steady and precise. Therefore, your experience can be crafted with your own hands. Video games are kind of made for that. And HLM understands this quite well.

While enjoying the gameplay, however, you are also coerced into enjoying the violent acts committed. After all, you’re playing as a guy who listens to cryptic messages on his phone, puts on an animal mask, and annihilates members of the Russian Mafia in a gameplay loop. Repeated patterns of stabbings and shootings are all you do in this game. In HLM, violence is of a seductive nature; the player begins to find enjoyment in the brutalities and grows increasingly careless in the face of gruesome murders. Yet at the end of it all, HLM comments on how violence lacks merit; inherently, violence is wholly empty and unsatisfactory. After the thrill wears off, there’s nothing but a hollow silence that follows.

The PC (player character) seems entirely detached from his committed assassinations, much like you, as the player, are becoming desensitised to these executions. PC and player merge into one another, and this overlap, in tandem, affirms and questions the actions that unfold on screen. It adds all the more flavour to the cake when you remember that the protagonist never speaks or reveals his face. He is opaque; his identity remains entirely ambiguous, which makes neither adoration nor contempt towards the character possible. We’re doing his actions. Or he’s following our commands. So, is it really us doing all these horrific acts, or is it simply the character? Or both? Kinda? Iguess. Only in games can a fruitful thought experiment as such be conducted.

B) STORYTELLING

HLM has no voice acting. On top of that, it does not have much dialogue either — most quotes are spoken into existence sans réponse. Additionally, characters do not have names and are mostly dubbed after their most prominent feature or function. Surprisingly, this does not curse HLM with a lack of depth. Arguably, the anonymity adds to the overall style of the game. Actual chunks of story development is there for those who pay attention to the environments, which the game also uses for storytelling. On top of that, it would seem unfitting for the game to reveal too much about its small cast of characters because the story itself is shrouded in mystery. The fact that not everything is entirely explained greatly adds to the nature of the game. So what is the story all about, anyway? Is it truly a commentary on Russian-American relations? Or is it a tale of a scarred individual who greatly fears abandonment and attempts to fix past traumas with violence-inflicting acts that distract him from his mundane life? Well, kind of. But also not. Do you see the point I made previously about the game being dominated by mystery? Ultimately, HLM is a video game about video games. A commentary on the medium it uses itself; it fully utilises its presentation and function to make an intrinsic comment about itself. This leads me to the point I had made before: HLM takes absolute advantage of being a video game. It is therefore not enough for the content of a medium to be satisfactory; it also matters how the content is presented and how the presenting medium is utilized. Immensely.

Needless to say, everything that HLM does can only be done in a game; engagement and interactivity are used to the max here. The sharp bending of audio, visuals, and interactivity is a craft only a game can fully execute. It requires its own medium to function; Luhmann himself mentioned how the medium is the message. The medium itself speaks for its content, as much as the content speaks for its medium. HLM knows this. That‘s why it works so well. That‘s why it‘s fun.

ROUX 21

The Tower

text and artwork by

Kristina Shatokhina

SHORT STORY

My body holds a picture of a sun – it’s you.

Chelsea Wolfe, The Warden

– You are of a wicked kind, little one. You are of a kind that loves a rose for its thorns,– Mary uttered in my ear.

I smiled: she wouldn’t know that I had only loved roses because she did. When she cut a rose from our garden with her fine silver dagger and grabbed its voluptuous head with her sly fingers ever so tenderly, I sighed and trembled at the sight. How I wished her dagger was at my throat instead! A wicked child I was, corrupted not by evil but by the brutal intensity of my senses.

Our garden was grand. Both light and darkness coexisted there in perfect harmony, and I could never get tired of getting lost in their labyrinthine web of shadowed asylums and brilliant exposures. I followed Mary inside the chimeric structures of lacy steel and rainbow glass. These structures were built by the Old Ones who wanted to shelter and nourish the most rare of the other beings. There, in the deep green-tiled pools underneath those structures’ ornate, ever-moving vaults, among translucent lilies dwelled three sleepless undines. My eyes rested on their shimmering skin. I had read in some book that they didn’t have a soul, but even then I knew it wasn’t true. Their soul was simply made of something else.

Mary knew the tales of every flower and their origins. No one could know better than her which sun’s death and which goddess’ birth made it so a flower came to our world. She alone knew the mysteries of their extinction and afterlife, and of their rebirth too. Mary then told me of my birth flower, a silver rose whose poisonous petals blossom in the underground seas all throughout the Blood Moon.

I followed her silently. When she spoke her language, what was I to say? I could only wait for her limbs to touch me.

I had more in common with the ancient undines from her manuscripts than I had with her, but maybe that was why she kept me.

As I make my way through the dark forest that our garden has turned into, my mind keeps travelling back to these hazy days we spent together. That was before she fell asleep and they carried her to the Tower. Days, weeks, months, years have passed and no one came to wake her up. We were waiting for true love but it never

seemed to come. I too was sleepwalking, stuck between two worlds chanting her name. But that was until I heard her calling mine.

Now, as the storm is raging outside, I am going up the cold limestone stairs of the Tower. The staircase is narrow and uneven, and the walls are moving in and out along with my breath.

Each stair crumbles under my feet and disappears into the abyss one by one with a deep, thundering crack. One stone for every cry of devotion – choked down, desperate, unspoken. In the void under me, the bright starlight devours the words I wanted to say and never did.

One stone for each skipped heartbeat at the sight of her. One stone for each time I should have ran away instead. One stone for wickedness, one stone for kindness, one stone for defeat. My sweet love, there’s a hole in my soul, and the light shines through: it’s you, it’s you, it’s you.

I don’t look back, I care very little; what I carry with me for you will only die if I do, and even then, it won’t be truly dead. I will hold you in my heart until I hold you in heaven.

Finally, there is a door to the room where you sleep. You lie there, waiting for a kiss of true love that will awaken you from your slumber. And in that you are right: true love waits. Here, I find myself holding the keys. Were they always in my hand? The door opens, and your room smells of the first snow that falls gently through the opened bay window. I kneel at your bed and bathe in the golden shimmer surrounding your skin; I move quietly, smooth like a knife. No one will know the violence it took to become this gentle.

And so fell our Tower, and we fell with it. Then, Darkness came. But was it the end? * * *

O cruel ecstasy of love. Illuminate me, draw me to you. Alter me better me erase me. O cruel ecstasy of love…. Annihilate me! * * *

As the years go by, stains of blood on the snow fade. Yet unknown flowers begin to grow out of the two bodies so deeply in love. December snow will cover them.

ROUX 23

by POEM

BONJOUR PRINTEMPS

During winter’s chill I stayed at the Heartbreak hotel for many dark moons shattered dreams bittersweet meals broken soul armed with squander, song and literature love is a writing tool sitting in my Victorian nightgown alone

Hague blue nights a cerulean melancholic ocean of sadness saturated with fragments of diamond dust shooting you out of a glitter cannon burst my heart aches the realisation knowing how much I could, would have and wanted to love you but not anymore

In a parallel era on the eleventh hour you and I would turn to tomorrow’s cherry tree welcoming spring, Mother Earth hand in hand devouring a blood orange together ruby hues trickling down our naked lips instead

I leave you with this donc, va voir si je suis là parce que tu ne me trouveras jamais au revoir hiver tristesse et bonjour printemps.

poem by Jo Yi Hoon collage by Kristina Shatokhina

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