Tag: art

web series that have my heart <3

Ashika GeorgeLeave a comment

A lot of us have a subscription to whichever of the streaming services that exist now and binge as many series as we like. It’s an ingrained part of our contemporary culture and I feel its legacy will last despite its recent shortcomings. While eating breakfast, lunch or dinner, I go to Netflix or Amazon Prime on my TV or laptop and search through their catalogue for an intriguing series to watch. Sometimes they can be a miss, but others really make my entire life.

Baby (2018-2020)

c: Netflix

platform: Netflix
country: Italy
language: Italian

Based on a true case, Baby follows Chiara Altieri (Benedetta Porcaroli) and Ludovica ‘Ludo’ Storti (Alice Pagani), two teenage girls at the affluent school Collodi in Rome who begin to lead double lives in prostitution. The subject matter is serious and initially, I was questioning how the series truly dealt with the topic. It should be a series that was average at best and one I disliked, considering the short length, lack of development in characters and narrative. Side plots follow other characters:

  • Damiano Younes (Riccardo Mandolini) – a newly transferred student, son of a diplomat and becomes involved with Chiara
  • Niccolo Govender Rossi (Lorenzo Zurzolo) – his messy personal life involves Chiara and track coach Monica, Damiano’s step-mother
  • Camilla Govender Rossi (Chabeli Sastre Gonzalez) – Niccolo’s sister and Chiara’s slowly estranging best friend
  • Fabio Fedelli (Brando Pacitto) – Chiara and Camilla’s best friend who deals with his sexuality
  • Brando De Sanctis (Mirko Trovato) – Niccolo’s best friend, school bully at Collodi and has an identity crisis
  • Claudio Fiorenzi/’Fiore’ (Giuseppe Maggio) – A shady businessman and eventually Ludo and Chiara’s pimp

Due to early controversy, the first season was cut from eight to six episodes, a choice which remained for the next two seasons. Perhaps this decision let the series down in terms of there being little development that was convincingly moving the story forward. I want to point out that some aspects of representing the protagonists’ venture into a dangerous world should’ve been more carefully done. But over the course of 3 seasons, I found the series to be mature and morally sound with characters facing consequences for their actions, including legal repercussions. The whole prostitution arc also shows how Chiara and Ludo both become entangled with it and how it affects them individually, leading to realisations of manipulation and addiction. The tone is dark, the cinematography is sleek and the music is a genre I’ve not heard elsewhere.

‘Baby’ proved to be something different and still remains one of the most unique shows I’ve seen. It was a tough watch at times and evoked some stronger emotions by the series’ conclusion.

Control Z (2020-2022)

c: Netflix

platform: Netflix
country: Mexico
language: Spanish

A Mexican teen drama series, ‘Control Z’ follows a group of students at the National College who become victims of a mysterious hacker:

  • Isabela de la Fuente (Zión Moreno) – a popular girl at the school who is outed as transgender
  • Pablo García (Andrés Baida) – Isabela’s boyfriend who is revealed to be having an affair with another (mysterious) female classmate
  • Gerardo ‘Gerry’ Granda (Patricio Gallardo) – a tough and aggressive bully exposed for watching gay pr0n
  • Alejandra ‘Alex’ Salomone (Samantha Acuña) – an openly lesbian student who’s relationship with her biology teacher is exposed
  • Raúl León (Yankel Stevan) – the son of wealthy parents, his father is revealed to be a fraud
  • Natalia Alexander (Macarena García Romero) – once the organiser of a school fundraiser, only to be exposed as keeping the money for herself to buy luxury items

Once their secrets are revealed, several troubles in their relationships ensue. The protagonist Sofía ‘Sofí’ Herrera (Ana Valeria Becerril) is a girl with exceptional observation skills and attempts to discover the hacker’s identity with the help of new student and friend Javier Williams (Michael Ronda). After ‘Baby’ had officially ended and I was searching for similar shows, some people had recommended this one on Reddit. The story and characters had some depth to them and figuring out the hacker’s identity and motivation was intriguing. As the series lasted three seasons, the story remained consistent with a new problem faced by the characters each time, courtesy of the hacker.

There were some loose ends like ‘Baby’ had and some moments which, admittedly, were more weird than anything. But it was still a fun series to follow with a creative premise.

Young Royals (2021-present)

c: Netflix / IMDb

platform: Netflix
country: Sweden
language: Swedish

Another teen/young adult series, ‘Young Royals’ is one I regret putting off watching for no particular reason. The series follows Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding), the youngest son of the Swedish Royal Family, who transfers to Hillerska Academy after a controversy. There, he meets Simon Eriksson (Omar Rudberg), a fellow student and chorister for the school and a rocky but romantic relationship develops. We also meet the supporting characters:

  • August Horn (Malte Gårdinger) – Wille’s 2nd cousin tasked with helping him settle down at the academy
  • Felice Ehrencrona (Nikita Uggla) – a popular girl at Hillerska and childhood friend of Wilhelm
  • Sara Eriksson (Frida Argento) – Simon’s sister who struggles with Asperger’s and ADHD

On a surface level, the series can come across as simple and perhaps even fan-fictionesque. But there’s so much I appreciate about ‘Young Royals’ as it exceeds beyond just another teen/young adult romantic drama.

Firstly, the fact that they allow the actors/characters to keep acne and other blemishes adolescents can have. As someone who suffered from really bad acne as a teenager, it was nice to see the show keep it real. The approach to the idea of royalty, something that is often considered very traditional, dealing with LGBTQIA+ themes is careful and is an interesting commentary, having me on the brink of tears at times. It led to the realisation that this is a topic that is relevant and how much we need to reconsider what is ‘traditional’ and ‘right’. With a third and final season confirmed, I’m hopeful in seeing how Wilhelm and Simon‘s story ends ❤

Heartstopper (2022-present)

c: Netflix

platform: Netflix
country: United Kingdom
language: English

I was familiar with the graphic novels by Alice Oseman, thanks to one of my best friends and some booktubers. Once the series hit Netflix, I made the decision to watch it out of curiosity because there were already such great reviews of the source material. ‘Heartstopper’ might be one of the most wholesome series I’ve ever seen. It follows Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), a recently outed boy who is gay, and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), a popular rugby player and fellow classmate at Truham Grammar School, and the start of a blossoming relationship between them. The series is heart-warming in examining what it means to be comfortable with your sexuality and the platonic love found in friendships as well. ‘Heartstopper’ had instances which had me tearing up too, from the sad to the tender and endearing. The supporting characters are all loveable in their own right:

  • Tao Xu (William Gao) – One of Charlie’s best friends, a cinephile (like me!)
  • Elle Argent (Yasmin Finney) – Charlie and Tao’s friend who transfers to the local girls school, Higgs, after coming out as transgender
  • Isaac Henderson (Tobie Donovan) – Another best friend of Charlie, Tao and Elle who is often quiet and seen reading books
  • Tara Jones (Corinna Brown) – One of Elle’s new friends at Higgs
  • Darcy Olsson (Kizzy Edgell) – Tara’s girlfriend who also befriends Elle at Higgs

When I saw the news that this series has also been renewed (not just for a second season but a third too!), I was so so happy :’)

Invincible (2021-present)

c: Amazon Prime

platform: Amazon Prime
country: United States
language: English

For anyone who knows me personally, or read one of my previous blog entries, you will know how much I LOVE ‘Invincible’. I’m very much into superhero media and have been since I was a little girl. But recently, it appears that there are too many misses than hits in the genre from my observations. I haven’t seen many adult animated series and have not seen any animated superhero shows in a long time. A true breath of fresh air, ‘Invincible’ really proved to be something phenomenal.

The series follows Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), a teenager who’s father is the greatest superhero on Earth, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), and begins to develop powers of his own. While under his father’s tutelage, he encounters various other heroes as enemies wreak havoc on the planet and Mark’s values and relationships are put to the test.

The credit must go to the original comics first and foremost, though. A subversive, grounded, gritty take on superheroes while paying homage to its classic origins, the show has been an adventure so far. The talented ensemble voice cast is fantastic and the score composed by John Paesano is epic. I’m eagerly awaiting the second season, since I have been dealing with some type of withdrawal since season one ended. If new reports are correct, however, it will arrive sometime in 2023!

The Boys (2019-present)

c: Amazon Prime

platform: Amazon Prime
country: United States
language: English

Another subversive, dark, gritty addition to the new wave of superhero shows, ‘The Boys’ also plays with superhero tropes and hypothetical scenarios with the real world to show how…well, (using a word echoed in the series) ‘diabolical’ it would be. Superheroes are public figures, known as ‘Supes’ and work for Vought International, a corporation which promotes them. Hughie Campbell Jr. (Jack Quaid) is recruited into The Boys, a vigilante group working against Supes, by William ‘Billy’ Butcher (Karl Urban) after his girlfriend is killed by the Supe A-Train (Jessie T. Usher). Other members of The Boys include the group’s organiser Marvin/’Mother’s Milk’ (Laz Alonso), arms trafficker Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), a mute woman who was subject to experimentation and possesses powers of her own. Butcher, in particular, has a personal vendetta against Homelander (Anthony Starr), the most famous and powerful superhero of them all. Homelander, A-Train, along with Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligot), The Deep (Chase Crawford), Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), Translucent (Alex Hassell) and newest member Starlight (Erin Moriarty) form The Seven, the primary superhero group from Vought and a reference to DC’s Justice League.

There is so much nuance to the characters and the world they inhibit, making us rethink if we really need superheroes. They could be part of a greedy corporation. There are repercussions of damage caused to towns/cities and even people’s psyche during heroic pursuits. The dangers of people with immense power shifting to the wrong side of the moral compass is terrifying. But as a sucker for vigilante characters, The Boys as the group to challenge the status quo of this world is exhilarating. Homelander has become one of my favourite villains and Anthony Starr deserves an Emmy. I do feel the third season was *slightly* underwhelming in a few areas. But nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed the humour, violence, themes and character arcs and I’m curious to see season four.

To Be Continued..?

These are the few web series which are currently among my favourites. I can only hope that those still ongoing will continue to remain top-tier in quality and therefore, remain in my heart. I’m glad that these platforms have made the wise decisions to renew them as I’m certainly not done enjoying these shows just yet. Perhaps there will be more to add to the list in the future and I will be sure to write an updated list if feelings change or any new series catch my attention 🙂

Finding Your Passion

Ashika George1 Comment

It took me years before I finally realised what I love doing and what I’m good at. As a child, I firmly knew that I loved arts and crafts. I used to spend a lot of time trying to be creative and while my Mum encouraged it, school ultimately won over my time.

Once I was into primary school this flame inside me, of drawing/painting/being creative, was decreasing into nonexistence. My parents were more concerned about looking at top scores and grades on a piece of paper rather than my passion and interests, which truly made me happy instead of maths or science.

Secondary school was the worst. I was thrust into a hectic schedule of studying and GCSE’s invaded majority of my time. While choosing my GCSE options, I was determined to choose photography and music. However, my parents convinced me to not take photography because it wasn’t worth a GCSE to take pictures. Music was ruled out because it wasn’t “academic” enough. To say I was incredibly frustrated is an understatement. I ended up doing subjects I didn’t even enjoy. Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if I had followed my heart instead of my parents. It didn’t help that my grandfather told me that medicine was the best path for me, despite the fact that I absolutely detest science.

Then came college. This current part of my life so far has been a significant improvement. My parents are now more accepting towards my career aspirations after they saw the hell I experienced during GCSE. I took subjects that I was genuinely interested in for once, although I still regret not taking photography once again.

Perhaps the problem underlies in the fact that my culture is rather restrictive when it comes to an individual’s passion. I’m sure you’re aware of the typical Indian stereotype of every student being forced to take either medicine or engineering. Believe me, I’ve been to India several times and pretty much everyone I’ve met is either studying to become a doctor/nurse, engineer or accountant. I can’t help but feel sorry for them. Good for them if they truly love these career paths but surely, there are many Indian youths who would rather study something else. My oldest cousin was originally studying accounting or something related to economics/business. But he simply didn’t want to go down that route and our family realised that it wasn’t working for him. Now he’s studying hotel management and is seemingly a lot happier. Unfortunately, India has still yet to move forward in this area. Anything that does not fit the traditional standards is usually seen as a hobby rather than a potential career choice, such as art. Being raised in Britain is certainly a blessing as it has opened doors for me that would not have happened had I remained in India.

My struggle in finding my passion wasn’t just about my future career, but also in discovering what I’m good at. Some of the biggest things in my life which I am upset about is not being able to develop my art skills. Since I was continuously forced to study, I never had much time to practice drawing or painting. Thus, my artistic skills are still very basic compared to my friends who are now almost at a professional level. Now that I have slightly more freedom, I’ve been returning to my beloved world of creativity and will keep working to hone my skills.

My advice to you is to go ahead and follow your dreams. Don’t let anyone judge your aspirations and keep practising so you’ll become good at what you love doing. If you’re still young then I cannot stress enough how you should do so, because later in life you will look back at that former glory and regret not following your heart just like I have. Explore different things, find what you’re good at and what you love and it can be anything. Then stick to it because it will be the key thing that will define YOU.

A Tale of Two Cultures: Poetry & Thoughts

Ashika GeorgeLeave a comment

Being brought up

in two cultures

is a blessing.

The door to opportunity,

ambition and reality

is open.

Take what you like

to add to your

identity.

But nothing should

define you

other than

yourself.

– Ashika

I’m British-Indian. I’m ethnically Indian and migrated to the United Kingdom when I was a clueless 2-year-old with my Dad. Growing up in two cultures was fascinating but challenging, to say the least.

British culture has allowed me to be open, ambitious and encouraged to chase my passions and dreams. It has also taught me tolerance, respect and kindness to others. My Indian heritage has also taught me similar philosophies. But what I truly cherish from India is our diversity as a nation in language, religion, culture and much more. Our clothing and festivals are so vibrant and it sparks happiness when I show my British friends the wonders of my country.

I used to detest one or the other as I grew up, believing that it is not possible for me to value both as much as each other. I felt as if I can’t be British enough or I can’t be Indian enough. There were times where I was discouraged from “becoming too British”, as in not becoming like those English kids at school who do whatever they want, swear, have families that are split and not perfect. Even embracing my Indian identity had me scared for some reason, as if others will laugh at me for talking about curry or might snicker discreetly when I show my churidhar in class. But I love my English friends, I love the roast dinners and fish and chips at school, I love the carefree nature of those I have come to know living in Britain. I also love when my friends say they love Indian cuisine, I love showing off my traditional clothing, wearing them to school events and having classmates say it looks beautiful.

I grew tired of this pointless clash between cultures. There are bits and pieces that anyone who grew up in a multicultural family can value close to their heart. So I decided that I’ll embrace both my Indian and British identity, after all it makes me more unique as an individual and I shouldn’t run away from that. I also found that such an identity encourages a deeper understanding of the world and that reality is a door for endless possibilities and splendour. My eyes opened and witnessed the beauty of a culturally diverse person. A culturally diverse person is intelligent, aware, respectful, tolerant and possesses a kind and curious soul and thus can pass on these qualities to others so that may be the same.

Embrace your heritage and value your other half as well, for it is truly a blessing.

The Beauty Of The Rain: Poetry & Thoughts

Ashika GeorgeLeave a comment

The rain is ambiguous

The rain is ambitious

Tears of the lost souls fall

Your painfully sweet voice will call

These droplets are meant for sadness

But you say that is madness

Let’s make our love blossom with the rain

Let these raindrops wash away the pain

– Ashika

The inspiration for this poem stemmed from the Korean drama series, Love Rain. Although the content of the two differs, the series really made me appreciate the beauty of the rain completely.

The rain tends to connote sadness, loss and overall negativity. But what’s to stop it from being so meaningful, loving and beautiful? I used to wonder why kissing someone in the rain was romantic. Then I realised that people in love don’t care about anything around them or what will happen. The rain falling is making them wet and they’ll have to get dry, they could also become ill. But that love is so strong between them that even the evil bows down and changes for good.

The rain, to me, is also a metaphor of cleansing. These droplets, that can be considered the tears of those before us, are silently telling us that we should not dwell in sadness and instead, refresh and make ourselves new for the future. Its simplicity renders us able to imagine how wonderful the rain is, and it doesn’t have to be all negative.

So the next time you see or feel the rain, instead of complaining how it will affect you with useless problems, appreciate its beauty.

Journaling: Ideas, Prompts & Reasons Why You Should

Ashika GeorgeLeave a comment

Alright, I’ll admit that I only began journaling last year. But as the months passed, I knew that I held a deep passion for writing anything that meandered in my mind onto paper. Not only that, I wished to create aesthetically pleasing pages that I could cherish.

Since then, journaling has really helped me in more ways than one. I will attempt to inspire you to start journaling as well!

To begin with…

• Buy a journal!

The first thing to do is to buy a journal, obviously! You can find empty books in your local arts & crafts stores or you can order online. I own several because, frankly, I’m obsessed with gorgeous notebooks and journals.

• Make sure you buy a journal that speaks to you

Buying a plain-looking school notebook will not do. You need to make sure that your journal is of good standard and screams who you are. Try buying journals with pastel colours, inspiring quotes, high-quality paper and if you’d like, a hardback cover. Beautiful journals will motivate you to write in them.

• Decorate them!

If you can only get a hold of a plain notebook or good journals are expensive, just decorate them! Look through your local craft stores for washi tape, stickers and even paints to spice up your journal, all usually at a cheap price.

Next…is the writing process!

• If you’re keeping a diary-style journal, all you need to do is write an entry every day/week. In a diary, you are free to write about anything from the day’s events, your philosophical thoughts or just how you feel about certain people. The choice is yours, but ensure that you keep it secret!

• If you’re ambitious and love art, make an art journal! I only thought about creating one literally a few days ago. In an art journal, you can paint, draw and stick in quotes or book/newspaper sections. If you want some accompaniment, write a poem to match the art piece you have created. To get more inspiration for art journaling, please check out Noor Unnahar and Areeba Siddique, they have the best art journals I’ve ever seen!

• Travel journaling is something that I’ve decided upon doing because I’m extremely wanderlust. Write a list of places you’d like to visit, places you’ve been to and plan out your trips beautifully. You can write a review after you’ve visited somewhere as well.

• Other examples of journaling that you can try are keeping a gratitude journal, a poetry journal or even a bullet journal. Bullet journaling is basically a more creative way of planning.

If you are really unsure of what to write in a journal, you can just buy a Q&A Journal! These books from Potter Style basically ask you a question every day for the next five years. It’s easy and fun! There are different versions from a regular to a Q&A for writers. It is quite pricey (£14.99 in the UK) but it’s honestly worth the money.

Reasons Why You Should Start Journaling:

• It’s beneficial for your mental health. I can get quite emotional and I have anxiety, so writing down little things has helped me to release the tension and relax.

• It prompts creativity. Instead of just lying around, make your brain active by decorating and writing. The best part is that you can do whatever you wish.

• Discover yourself. Since you’re thinking a lot, you will realise more about yourself, what you’re good at and what you need to improve. You might even recognise a hidden talent that never shone before!

• It keeps you organised. If you bullet journal, it will make your life a lot easier! Organising your schedule and plans to do whatever it may be, can be done in a fun and simple way, thus more motivation to do so.

So what are you waiting for? Go get started and remember to have fun!

Happy journaling! 🙂