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By J.D So for at least 6 ½ years, I have gone to Comic Con. And it’s amazing! Comic Con, according to google, is an event where comic fans, creators and exhibitors go to show off their art or have fun. But it’s not just comics, it’s anything pop culture related (including but not limited to: anime, music, television/movies, books, art and cosplay).
Comic Con is also well known because of the comics that were around in the mid 20th century, such as: Marvel, DC, and Archie Comics. Since then, Comic Con is enjoyed by anime fans, Star Trek & Star Wars fans, and different pop cultures, as I stated before. But the last two Comic Cons, I haven’t been able to go because things have been crazy lately around the world. Motor City Comic Con (or MC3), is a comic convention held in my home state. It is the largest in the state (over 50,000 attendees) and ranks #8 in the United States Comic Conventions. Now every year there's different celebrities (some have been attending Comic-Con for years), different vendors, crafters and exhibitors. But the atmosphere or the location doesn't change. But this year, I went and here's a quick recap. My dad and I went there. The place was packed with lots of people in costumes and some were dressed in normal clothes. I was wearing leggings with a Sons Of Anarchy t-shirt that I had gotten the night before. My dad wore khaki shorts with a blue polo shirt. My guess is that there were over 10,000 people waiting in line. We waited in line for about an hour, chatting with this random guy until they let us in. We walked around a lot, probably walked around the whole perimeter a couple of times. When we first walked around, I saw a booth (I think it was face-painting/body art?) but then when I told my Dad about it and we walked around the second time, I couldn’t find it and I found the next big thing: a film school! The film school is a small school that started around the 1990s. Which is near this old headquarters for this semi-forgotten store chain. Film school is what I wanted to do outside of high school. What is the reason why I, J.D., wanted to do film school? Is because of the fact that I wasn’t too sure what would be a good occupation, so here’s some other reasons/a backstory why I wanted to be someone in the film/entertainment history: For a few years, I have been struggling with what I’m going to do when I’m an adult and I remembered that when I was a young kid, I dreamed of being the next Carrie Fisher or the next George Lucas or Steven Speilberg. When I was 14, however, I wanted to be like Gerard Way, but kept film school/acting in the back of my mind because I like acting and I’ve wanted to direct movies since I was a kid. And in case the whole rockstar thing fell through the cracks (which it kind of did). The film school does have some famous alumni, a few crew members worked on Captain Marvel, which is cool. I did get to see celebrities like William Shatner or Danny Trejo, but both of their lines were packed, probably to the doors of the convention (actually, that's not true. I'm just exaggerating but it was really long). The celebrity I saw is a well known guy in the Scooby Doo movies, he lost his dad when he was a baby and played Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars. Can you guess it now? If you can't, that's okay. Because his name is Freddie Prinze Jr. Now Freddie Prinze is a very hot celebrity. He is a very nice guy and actually cares for fans unlike some people we shall not name. I just took a photo with Freddie and I went on my merry way. Originally, I was going to get an autograph with him but since his line was super long for photos, he wouldn’t be signing autographs at his booth until 3. So after that my dad and I went home. It was pretty cool seeing all the celebrities and learning about the film schools and stuff. Comic Con is a very fun experience where you can meet people of different fandoms and see different things and learn something new. No matter your age, Comic Con is amazing and should be checked out when it is back in town.
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By Camille It’s just a sport. Or I don’t know why you’re overreacting. Those are just two sentences any sports fan does not want to hear. People who do not watch a particular sport, or watch no sports at all, may not understand why people can become frustrated when watching a team they’re rooting for. For those of you who feel a deeper connection with any sport, I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone.
Now to be completely honest and transparent, if you asked me about this topic two years ago, I would never think about the deeper meaning that sports can bring to our lives. I never really watched sports (except for WWE, but I know some people don’t see that as a sport), so I never knew too much about what was going on in the sports world. Back when I started getting into football about a year ago, I had minimal knowledge of the sport. The only position I knew of was the goalkeeper, and even then I didn’t know the rules they had to follow. For those of you who do not use the term football, I am talking about soccer. As embarrassing as it is to admit it, the entire reason I even started watching football was because my favourite Twitch streamer, nmplol, started playing Fifa 21 and I immediately became hooked on the game and wanted to know more about the sport. Learning about the teams, players, and rules of football was very overwhelming-especially due to the fact that I wasn’t a fan of the sport my entire life. Even to this day, I cannot explain the rules very well on my own, but that doesn’t mean I am not a big supporter of the sport. Each time I watch a match, I try to figure out who is who so I am able to identify them the next time the team plays. Despite my lack of knowledge compared to longtime fans, football has made me feel emotions no other sport has. Football has made me feel excitement, sadness, disappointment, inspiration, irritation, and the list goes on. Upon researching multiple teams when I first started watching, I was very quick to find the team that I support the most, Paris Saint-Germain. When I first began watching football, I was at the worst place in my life mentally and emotionally. However, within these past few months, Paris Saint-Germain has brought me motivation and has helped me create a big goal for myself. After I obtain my Bachelor’s degree in America, I hope to attend a school in Paris to obtain my Master’s. I realize that will take a lot of work and effort, but it’s work and effort I’m willing to put in to be able to live in the beautiful city of Paris. Whenever I watch a PSG game, I become excited at the idea that one day I can/will live in the city that this wonderful team represents. Whenever I’m feeling low on motivation, I think of my future and what I want it to look like, and that alone is enough to help me bring back the motivation I once had. While others may have a harder time finding inspiration in their life, I find no shame in admitting that PSG has brought a phenomenal amount of inspiration to me. Football is more than a sport. You can find this out by asking any invested football fan. Football is a sport where people come together and enjoy 90+ minutes of other people kicking a ball around. While it may seem to be just that to some people, it is a sport that unites countries divided by other issues. It is a sport that motivates people to work hard for what they want. It is a sport that entertains people. It is a sport that makes people feel things. Football has already brought so much to my life, and I cannot wait for the future when I am finally in a stadium, watching the team that has helped me more than they know. The main purpose of this article was not to enlist more football fans (though that would be cool), but it is to show everyone that anything can hold a deeper meaning in life if you allow it. The simplest of things can bring so much motivation into our lives. While I talk about football specifically in this article, I encourage you guys to find something that you enjoy and create inspiration from it. This can range from sports to books to anything that you simply find joy in! “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The pandemic has caused a really difficult time for a lot of industries. Whether it’s a restaurant, a pub, a clothing boutique, a beauty salon or a hairdressers salon, everyone is struggling with not being able to open up and conduct business at usual. As hard as it has been for all businesses this year, there is one industry which means a lot to me and has particularly struggled - theatre.
I have loved the theatre for as long as I can remember. I don’t remember a time in my life, when I didn’t love going to see live shows and singing along to musical soundtracks. I don’t remember what the first show I ever saw was, but I specifically remember going to see The Lion King with my mum and my nan in the West End in London and being mesmerised by the amazing things happening on stage in front of me. Not only did I love seeing theatre, but I loved being a part of theatre productions - acting, dancing and singing. Acting has been in my family for a while. My grandad used to perform in shows, when he was in the Navy and he even did drag shows sometimes to raise money for charity. My mum and dad were part of a local community group who did cabaret shows in the local pub to fundraise for various charities too. It was only commonplace that I started a children’s theatre group when I was 3 years old and continued to participate in 2-3 shows a year until I was 18. But I didn’t stop acting then - I left the children’s group and joined the Lindrick Players which is the local amateur dramatics group for adults in my town. I love every second of it, but due to the pandemic, I haven’t performed whatsoever on a stage in 10 months since my pantomime in January and won’t be back until the middle of next year at the earliest. That also means I haven’t set foot in a theatre for over 8 months - 255 days to be exact - and it sucks. Because of the pandemic, theatres haven’t been able to open in 8 months and that means that actors, actresses, box office attendants, stage managers, directors and everybody else who is integral to performing a show have all been out of work for a long time. Shows have been unable to be performed or even rehearsed because according to the British government and Rishi Sunak, theatres aren’t essential and ‘[we] can’t pretend that everyone can do exactly the same job that they were doing at the beginning of this crisis’ referring to performers in particular. Those who work in theatres have also not been given the same furlough opportunities as everybody else during this lockdown so many of them are losing their jobs as the theatre cannot afford to pay them. Theatres have been given a £1.5bn cash injection, but this is not enough to keep them open for what is almost definitely multiple months or even years. We could see theatres being shut for a long time to come, and that just cannot happen in my opinion. I cannot see a future without the theatre in it. To help the theatre industry as much as we can, we need to do everything possible to keep them open and keep them operating whilst they still have the funds to do so. So here are some of the following things which you could do to help theatres and shows which have been forced to close:
Please please. Do whatever you can to support theatres before it's too late. We cannot afford to lose this incredible industry.
Music is the universal language to the ears. Regardless of where you are from, the tunes you listen to can incite joy in your day whenever you are feeling gloomy. Nowadays, the popular genres of music include rap, R&B, hip-hop, indie and more, and may have individual fan bases to support their favorite artists. However, music shaming continues to be a factor that makes many music listeners feel inferior based on their preferences, or feel “out of the loop” with whatever is considered tasteful at the moment.
Music shaming is evident in many genres and artists. The foundation of music shaming is made up of prior stereotypes that many people have nitpicked based on its origins and overall style. For instance, Taylor Swift continues to be music shamed because it is assumed that her general fanbase is made up of adolescent girls, or that her whole discography consists of songs that she produced based on her long list of boyfriends. However, no one applauds that all of these hit songs were personally written by her, which is very telling of how artistically talented she is when showing her personal storytelling through her writing. While not enjoying an artist is valid, it is unreasonable to project animosity toward them or their fanbase simply because their music preference is not in line with what others believe is considered to be “cool” at the moment. I’ve personally experienced embarrassment through my enjoyment of K-pop. I enjoy the genre simply because many songs are incredibly well produced, and the artists sacrifice a large amount of time in executing choreography alongside it for the sake of aesthetic. Whenever people ask what my favorite genre is, I always avoid the word “K-pop” because I am aware of the numerous questions alongside it that may lead me to feel inferior. It may brand me as a generic Asian who supports a genre that they cannot understand, or a psychotic fan whose whole life revolves around obsessing over idols, buying tickets and albums, or even targeting other fan bases on Twitter. Of course, I will always remember whether a certain song cheered me up on a bad day, or how proud I was whenever my favorite group made a comeback and delivered incredible content for their fans. That itself should not make me feel ashamed to be a K-pop fan, regardless of anyone’s opinions. No one’s music preferences should be shamed because it is a reflection of your personality. I have personally learned that you should confront your fears and go against the prior assumptions made by others. If you feel isolated based on your music taste, here are some ideas that may make you feel more comfortable: Communicate with your friends about their biases: Although it is difficult to do so, try to give them the opportunity to voice out their opinions. You can simply dismiss these claims if they are false and even provide them a perspective of how your music taste is a significant part of your life. Engage with the fanbase online: Every social media platform, especially Twitter and Instagram, have many accounts that engage with a specific community of music fans. If you ever feel isolated, you can simply visit their pages, enjoy their content, or even comment. I personally know of some fan bases that create special days in order to collectively listen to an artist’s music on Spotify, and doing so can make you feel accepted. Unapologetically listen to your music: Blast your music in your room! Your family may hear it, and who knows, maybe they may actually enjoy your music and listen to it with you in the future. Ultimately, everyone is uniquely different and one’s music preference should not be discriminated against solely because it does not fit with whatever is popular these days. Regardless, confidently embrace your music preferences and what it stands for. At the end of the day, the only thing that will fully appreciate whatever you choose to listen to are your ears. Lana At the start of lockdown, I had found myself listening to the same songs over and over again. However, I have recently found a musician that I absolutely adore. Michael Aldag. Not only is his music great to listen to and very thought provoking, but he also has amazing hair.
His recent song (I say recent but it came out 4 weeks ago) is a beautiful, captivating song about the current pandemic. Despite this, I have only seen it today (23//06//20) as he has just released a lyric video to the song. I have already listened to it five or six times! It is so catchy with such an important message. It talks about how those in power have been absent or, as Aldag says: “It’s a town from which the sinners hide”. He then goes on to talk (or should I say sing) about how there has been lots of questionable advice being shared during this already confusing time. An example from his song is where Aldag is calling out Donald Trump due to the fact he told people to inject themselves with cleaning chemicals. Aldag does this in the lyric “That chlorine looks good so inject it in my soul”. Another impactful lyric is, “It seems the virus does discriminate”, highlighting the fact that it is the working class who are affected most by the pandemic. This is because Aldag is trying to get people to donate to The Trussell Trust, a charity that is working towards the end of needing food banks in the UK, although many people are currently in need of support. Aldag also has many other great songs like Entitled and BEDBOUND. BEDBOUND is another song about being in lockdown, which he has made a music video for from his bed in lockdown. Whilst Entitled is about how everyone is trying to compete over this idea that their life is worse than others, he also does so many covers of songs that are so beautiful. I can’t stress how much I love Aldag’s songs (and hair), so please go and show him some support. As even a little like or follow goes a long way to helping new musicians. It will aid Aldag in being able to create more music with such deep and meaningful messages. Josh A dynamic truth! A fair judgment to be done! And just another level of stupidity! In fact, it's an indirect one… The time we spend on things we love is way too little than the time we spend on social media. Oooh no! Let me check what Peter has posted this week on Instagram. Or perhaps, it will be so cool and so nice to check on what Mary posted on Tik Tok… But, time still counts, “Tick tock tick tock" And death comes like Boom! We then become addicted to our so-called social life partners. Old days seem more astonishing than the current days… Just to be more precise, the difficulties in doing things made people intelligent and hardworking. But, right now right here, you light up a house with one click on the switch then on it goes! The lights! Such a thing, demanded several trials on a log rubbed smoothly but roughly just to create fire. Sounds interesting right? But, what do we learn from the many trial and errors that gave us a lesson every single time? It actually gave our elders the ability not to give up. It actually made them understand that the world was full of trial and errors which later led to better infrastructures like The Egyptian Pyramids. But come on… wait first! What was Elon Musk's latest post on his newly bought-possession Twitter? Ooh no! Why am I still obsessed with what I am just criticizing? I don't know for real… To be honest, I have had this experience where we are just bonded or perhaps married to a wife or husband named “Social Media” with a full-amazing-gold ring. This might sound harsh but it's actually a truth we have to tolerate. The life principle, which I actually don't know about, tells us that the only people we will be bonded to a lot are our life partners. Ha ha, just kidding! The depth of its effect is far higher than the depth of its advantages which leaves us with an understanding that probably we might be expecting divorces from our life partners. That is what will happen when social media platforms get banished due to the effects it will have caused. We might find ourselves in a drastic confusion of what to do after getting the divorce from these social media platforms. A question just popped up in my mind, actually it's a question I have seen before, which says "What would you do when the internet gets off to replace the time you spend on it?" Huh? Is this a stupid joke or just a mere example of how the crazy people prank the intelligent people? You know, it's actually a thought from someone who might be crazy or just insane enough to speak such bullshit. But, the reality remains that these kinds of people are the most intelligent ones because they realize the depth of the disadvantage. They realize that these platforms which tend to connect people are the same platforms which destroy the role of humanity on earth. Just a simple question, how many people feel absolutely comfortable speaking with people physically than online? Probably very few… But why? It's mainly due to the drastic push we get from our so-called "Life Partners" or let's just say "Destructive Life Partners" named Social Media. Boom! So this is what I have learnt from the Social Media platforms: Well, like lightning it strikes and brings terrifying effects on earth through the breaking rumors it gives out. Like sun rays it gives us the pretendence-like heat unless the ozone layer is tempered through fake-true news it offers. We still survive knowing that we have more to face but unlikely knowing its effects. We live, we survive and we still spend time with our so-called-partners named Social Media. Did I just say something about time? Ooooh no! Wooohooo! Here comes the worst part! Just relax ok? I took time and spared some to check my screen time. I was puzzled and actually surprised with what I saw. Like seriously!!! Did I just spend 6 hours only on Instagram? Ooh come one! Was I stupid to spend 7 hours on ticktock? Mmmh! This sounds fun but how come more than half of my day is just spent on social media? It's magic right? Huh? Still sounds sarcastic… Anyway, let me check what Elon has posted on Twitter this time. Ladies and gents, or let's say online-addicted ladies and gents, I have learnt that the physical contact we spend with our physical friends is far too little than the enormous-high-quality-comfortable time we spend on social media. And actually, my imagination leads me to thinking that we might make a movement on Heaven just to be spared some minutes to check out on our friends in hell and at least check their progress. Just kidding though, the reality is, we really need to look at the future we are destined to go through and at least think if our so-called-life-partners will be advantageous to that destiny. Are we really ready to sacrifice our futures just to waste time on our so-called Life partners or will we be ready to sacrifice the social media and spend more time to nourish our physical world. I am having a feeling that probably Prince EA has posted something today on Instagram. But, do I really have to check it out? You know, this thing is quite tempting and at times it's apparently impossible to just quit it out of the blues and get outdated. Who wants to be outdated? Who? Actually it's fairly no one. It's just not that easy to forget everything and have no information about the world out there. It's quite depressing at times and far away beyond impossible. But, I do have a feeling that there is a way to change and get back to the old days when physical life was much more interesting that the online life. I have this feeling that probably we could have learnt less than what we learn today but actually accurate, true and educative knowledge. We would actively gain knowledge rather than the drastic mixture of lies and truths we get now leading us to an awesome confusion. And who knows, probably we might be able to live a life we all enjoy, live in peace and love and get the natural beauty of our beautiful planet earth. A lot has been happening to the online-addicted ladies and gents. I have been wondering how social media has made us not see the beautiful environment around us. It sounds even awkward that people selfie themselves at funerals these days. But, how long are we going to be torturing our eyes with contents from social media and still get nothing from it? This sounds ridiculous! I cannot stop writing because I feel like the devil we always speak of is actually our so-called life partners named Social Media. They come as a sheep but it's just a skin and when removed there comes a tiger and actually a Mongolian Tiger. It's fierce enough to strike the moment we fully believe it's a sheep. And yes! We have done that already and now we only have to wait for the ambush. Down within the narrow paths towards our destinies, we will be snatched like a chicken. With no one to hear our cries, we will be tortured like a roasted fish. And finally, with none to blame, we will be enslaved and killed mercilessly and Boom! Deal done! Oooh my social media, what have you done to me? - Andreaa Helpline: Be cautious with your social media platforms. Make good use of them and don’t let them exploit you more than how you exploit them. Be cautious! https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-quit-social-media/ Andreaa |
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Teenagers With Experience is an online organisation created to provide teenagers worldwide with an online platform to share their own experiences to be able to help, inform and educate others on a variety of different topics. We aim to provide a safe space to all young people. You can contact us via email, social media or our contact form.
Please note that the content on this website is created by teenagers. While we strive to provide accurate and helpful information, it is important to remember that we are not professional experts. If you are experiencing a crisis or need professional advice, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional or a helpline. |