Tag: Love

Bold Edition

Say My Name

Words by: Akira Kerr

I was sitting in Year 7 English. We were combined with another class, so there were close to 50 people in the room. The bell for the last period had just gone, and everyone was slowly making their way into the classroom.

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Hope Edition

MUST BE LIKED!

Words by: Juliette Capomolla 
Art by: Ilanda Tran

I bought flared jeans because they were the thing. Never mind they accentuated my big hips and didn’t show off my smaller calves.

I cut bangs because everyone else was doing it. Let’s pretend I didn’t look like a moonface (as my mum would so kindly put it).

I downloaded TikTok so I could keep up with the jokes, despite knowing full well I would spend hours on that app when I could be doing something productive.

And that’s just to name a few times in my twenties when I’ve done a thing or two just to fit in. It’s a terrible thing isn’t it, trying to keep up with the Joneses? So why do we do it?

… MUST BE LIKED!
Politics Edition

Just Call Me Lucifer

Words by: Kiera Eardley 
Art by: Naiya Sornratanachai

“…as heads is tails / just call me Lucifer / ’cause I’m in need of some restraint”

‘Sympathy for the Devil’ (1968), The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones have courted controversy for their entire 60-year career. The British rock & roll band was marketed as the anti-establishment antidote to the saccharine Beatles — and they didn’t shy away from living up to that bad-boy image. 

… Just Call Me Lucifer
Politics Edition

Table Manners

Words by: Sarah Louise
Art by: Lauren Easter

You spot him seated at a small table in the corner. Thank God, he looks like his Hinge profile. The restaurant is dimly lit, so hopefully he won’t notice the pimple that rudely decided to pop up this morning. He stands up to greet you, pulls your chair out and fills your glass with water. Tick. 

… Table Manners
Humans Edition

Party of One

Words by: Kiera Eardley
Art by: Natalie Tran

“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” 

Michel de Montaigne might have written these words in the 16th century, but it’s still a sentiment that would resonate with introverts everywhere. In a world that places a lot of importance on life-long partners, and at an age when popular culture is screaming from all angles that you should have a huge, boisterous friendship group that does everything together and goes out every night, it’s an easy one to forget. Society is built for extroversion in many ways, and there’s a lot of good that comes from that — but at the end of the day, all you really have is yourself. And that deserves to be celebrated. 

… Party of One
Humans Edition

An Ode to the Talking Stage

Words by: Chanttel Forbes

Now how many times have you been telling your friend about a new guy, and it goes something like this? 

Example A: omg he’s so amazing he says good morning to me

Example B: omg he checks up on me throughout the day

To which she replies: I can literally do that for you, that is the bare minimum.

That was the wake-up call I needed to realise I was accepting far too little, forcing me to take a deep dive into why that is and just how influential seeing positive relationships around you can be. 

… An Ode to the Talking Stage
Humans Edition

A Guide To Dealing With Partners You Cannot Stand

Words by: Emma Sudano
Art by: Lauren Easter

We all want our BFFs to be happy in love, on one condition: that I’m happy, too. It’s an age-old dilemma, you don’t like your friend’s partner. So, what do you do? 

You probably want to yell ‘you can do so much better!’, maybe even grab their arms and shake some sense into them. You think back to all the wine-induced hours spent mapping out their ideal partner, based on everything from personality to how they will look in the wedding photos. For fuck’s sake, there were probably even Pinterest boards made. Why didn’t they listen to the Pinterest boards?! You love your friend and vow to always be there for them — yet any time they mention their significant other, you cringe with every fibre of your being. But what are you going to do? Tell them that their partner is a jerk? Is it truly your place? Should you shut the fuck up, keep your head down and secretly loathe their spouse? None of these seem to be viable possibilities. 

… A Guide To Dealing With Partners You Cannot Stand
Humans Edition

A Love Letter to My Short-Lived Crushes

Words by: Juliette Capomolla
Art by: Annabel Condon

It’s undeniably human to have crushes. I mean, what’s the point of going to your weekly uni tutorial if not for the guy in the green sweatshirt who sits in the back left corner? Crushes enliven an excitement, giddiness and youthful feeling in us all. A crush takes me back to the start of Year 7, when 13-year-old me thought all the boys would just die over my side pony and rolled up skirt (spoiler: they didn’t). Whilst I’d like to think I’m past that particular trend, the sentiment remains — there’s nothing quite like a crush. 

… A Love Letter to My Short-Lived Crushes
Sex Edition (2022)

Mind the Gap

Words by: Kiera Eardley

It’s a phrase that’s all too familiar for women who grew up quickly, matured early, felt ahead of their years as a teenager: “you just need to meet an older guy”. All the shortcomings of the seemingly clueless boys our own age could easily be attributed to immaturity and slower brain development, so the obvious solution for us was to date older. With age comes inherent maturity and life experience and security, they say, and that was an appealing prospect as a young girl whose eyes glazed over at the mention of any testosterone-fuelled pastime. But when the age gap is substantial, is it really all it’s cracked up to be? 

… Mind the Gap
Sex Edition (2022)

Body Hair, Don’t Care

Words by: Eden Hopgood

Here we are in 2022, and female body hair somehow continues to be taboo. Having permeated gender dynamics for centuries, it’s always been regarded as yet another beauty standard women are expected to abide by, and a lack of body hair in the female-identifying population has long signified the ‘ideal body’. But this has begun to shift. More attention in the beauty industry is being given to gender fluidity, body positivity, and more inclusive messaging. In recent years, norms are finally beginning to shift; almost one in four women under 25 no longer shave their armpits, compared with just one in 20 in 2013.

… Body Hair, Don’t Care