Imagine a slow, peaceful start to a summer morning as you wake up to the sounds of birdsong in the distance, thin streams of sunlight wafting in through the windows as the world slowly awakes from its slumber. A morning walk among the lush, verdant countryside as you go deeper into the forest thicket, noticing the celestial beauty of it all: the song thrushes perched … Continue reading The Rural Dreamscapes of Cottagecore
On October 27, the Ministry of Education in Palestine announced the end of the 2023-24 academic year. The reason: most, if not all, of the school-going children had become victims of the Israeli genocide. The unfortunate part, however, is that this is only a fraction of the atrocities being committed in the occupied Gaza Strip. Pseudo-liberals assume that their artificially curated “peace for all” movements … Continue reading Calling a Spade a Spade: It’s Not a Conflict, it’s Genocide
Buckle up, folks, because we’re about to dive headfirst into the captivating world of Bran Castle, better known as ‘Dracula’s Castle’! If you’ve ever wondered where Count Dracula might’ve hosted his undead soirées, this is the place. Before we explore this Transylvanian gem, let’s add a touch of humour to our garlic necklaces and garlic-rubbed stakes— it’s going to be a thrilling ride! Fangtastic Host … Continue reading Bran Castle: Where Dracula Meets Quirky Charm
Without getting derailed this time, the first demographic I will be discussing fairly extensively in this part is shoujo. The word ‘shoujo’ itself translates to ‘young girl’ and is a demographic that targets young girls and women from approximately around the ages of 12–25. Commonly associated traits with shoujo manga are: use of the female-gaze, introspective dialogues, focus on emotions/emotional storytelling (even within plot and … Continue reading Demographics in Manga (Part 2): Shoujo and Josei
Manga, in simple words, are comic books originating from Japan which borrow the qualities of both visual and narrative storytelling (including dialogues, any possible point-of-view narration and speech/thought-bubbles). They are mostly published in black-and-white print with a few exceptions and are read from right to left. Though nowadays manga has become somewhat of a mainstream form of entertainment (especially because of its booming popularity in … Continue reading Demographics in Manga (Part 1): Shonen and Seinen
Picture the corseted confines of the Elizabethan era clashing with the free-spirited flapper dresses of the 1920s. Fashion’s paradoxes unfold— how what we wear can both mask and reveal the complexities of our world. Fashion has been just the medium, showcasing how it both obscures and unveils the multifaceted nuances of each era throughout human history. Despite being associated by the majority as a “female-oriented” … Continue reading Vivienne Westwood; The Epitome of Female Footprint in Fashion
Live-Action anime. A phrase that I’m sure causes any animanga enthusiast to cringe (I sure do). When anime started taking the world by storm, studios wanted to quickly capitalize on that success, resulting in the monstrosity nobody asked for. Bluntly speaking, anime usually never works in a live action format: the horrible character wigs, over-the-top dialogue, and revolting CGI is something straight from a nightmare! … Continue reading The Good, the Bad and the Horrible (Live-Action Anime Edition)
Ever scrolled endlessly through Instagram or TikTok and kept seeing those same five books a million times? If you mistakenly picked one up in the last few years and decided to immerse yourself in a new world, you probably found yourself cursing at the writer for their lack of creativity, or, even at capitalism for publishing it in the first place. BookTok might as well … Continue reading Just for The Aesthetic: The Superficial Face of BookTok
Now and then, while I surf through the channel list, I stumble upon the memory lane of all millennials and Gen Z: Cartoon Network. Back in the day, all of us came home and turned on the television to watch this one channel which gave us our childhood dreams, motivation, inspiration, happiness, and drama — overall great entertainment. Cartoon Network was at the centre of … Continue reading The Hub of Nostalgia: Cartoon Network
This review of Barbie comes fashionably late because I live in Lahore. As we all know, the Punjab Film Censor Board took it upon themselves to save Pakistani society from the clutches of Western propaganda by banning Barbie. Their excuse was “objectionable”, and “LGBTQ+” content. Having watched both Oppenheimer and Barbie, it’s safe to say that from an NSFW point of view, Oppenheimer far outranked … Continue reading Barbie: the Woman, the Myth, the Legend
