Chocolate!

For those of us with a sweet tooth, just remember that the 15th of February is "half-price chocolate day’, as all the reject chocolate boxes that weren’t bought on Valentine’s Day are sold to the rest of us. Take this opportunity to stock up on as much cheap chocolate as you can and treat yourself!

Flowers!

Unless you have a severe pollen allergy, then you can take Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to buy yourself some flowers, or even just to enjoy the smell of roses everywhere. I mean, really, if you don’t have a partner to buy you flowers, you might as well remind yourself how much you love You!

Remember your Friends

Take Valentine’s Day as the perfect opportunity to meet up with your other single friends and do something for yourselves. DVD night at someone’s place, watching horror movies or musicals or maybe even those movies where girls band up against guys to destroy them (John Tucker Must Die, anyone?)? Maybe you could all glam yourselves up and go out to dinner, and be each other’s Valentines dates? Or maybe you could skip all that, make yourselves up to the max, and have a night on the town. Go crazy and get drunk with your best friends, remind yourselves that you don’t need a relationship to be happy, as long as you have your friends.

However, what I feel the most important thing to remember, as us singles sit alone on Valentine’s Day is…

You Don’t Need a Relationship to Validate Yourself

OK, fine, Cupid forgot to hit you and your future significant other with an arrow this year. And yeah, it sucks sometimes, being reminded that you don’t have a partner that you can rely on. Believe me, I get that. It doesn’t get easier as you get older too; you start to feel like maybe there’s something wrong with you, if you haven’t found someone yet, and most of your friends your age have found a boyfriend or a girlfriend, so why haven’t you?

You just need to remember that just because you’re not in a relationship doesn’t mean you can’t be happy, and it doesn’t make you less valid as a person. Yeah, sure, it gets lonely being single and sometimes all you want to do is call up your significant other and make plans even if it’s just to see their face for an hour, and it sucks that we can’t rely on someone like that. Yet.

Remember, it’s just a yet. If you’re the type of person who wants to be in a relationship, and who believes in "happy ever after’ and "soul mates’ and all that, then just steel your shoulders, take a deep breath, and love yourself this year. Don’t let your lack of a partner in your life deter your happiness this year; the best Valentine anyone can have is themselves. So be happy, knowing that you can never break up with you, and sit back with a glass of wine and wait for the perfect Valentine to come along. Maybe next year, maybe the year after that…definitely eventually.

The post How to Enjoy Valentine’s Day Single appeared first on The Third Eye.

1. The weather and the temperature

My first thought when I woke up the morning after I arrived in Malta was "Why is there so much sun in my room?’ Upon opening my ward robe to pick an outfit for the day, my next two thoughts were — "Why do I have so many clothes in my wardrobe? And why are they summer clothes?!’

Living somewhere that isn’t as warm as Malta is definitely an experience — coming back home and not having to wear about 5 layers and a vest over your top half to keep warm is really something to think about. I can’t remember the last time I left the house without at least two jackets on. You also get stunned with the lack of rain and clouds all the time, especially when the sun is out.

That being said, you’re much better equipped to dealing with the cold now. My last night out in Paceville, I walked around with my coat in my arm while my friends stood there shivering, listening to me loudly proclaim that "it’s not that cold!’

2. The people

Becoming used to seeing and hearing Maltese people around you all the time is a bit weird. It’s nice to see friends again, and to not be the only person speaking Maltese in a group of friends, but it’s also very strange when you suddenly hear people swearing in a language you actually understand.

It’s also very weird when you hear English being spoken brokenly, but in a way only the Maltese know how to do.

Also, I’ve found that the Maltese are not as polite as the Irish, especially when it’s about wishing someone something as simple as a "good day’ as you leave the shop you’re in, or saying "thank you’ to the bus driver.

Seriously, why doesn’t everybody do that?

3. The way you speak

Inevitably, picking up colloquialisms from wherever you’ll live will happen. Your accent might have changed slightly if you went to an English-speaking country. Certain words will come out the way the locals would have said them. It’s a thing that happens. Just fully expect that people will point it out to you, even if you’re fully aware that you’re doing it.

Not the first time my friends have turned to me to say "That sounded very Irish of you’. Truth be told, I kind of like it!

4. Travelling

A huge relief was the fact that I didn’t have to spend EUR1.60 every single time I got on a bus, instead of EUR1.50 for a day ticket and calling it even. Finally, a bus system that’s a bit shoddy on running time but hey, at least it’s cheap!

Although, I must admit, I do miss being able to walk into Uni and not having to get on an overcrowded bus to do that.

5. Living with your parents again

Parents, if you’re reading this — I love you. I do. I’m so glad to be in a house that has more than one floor and a fully stocked fridge, and that I can sometimes come home to clean clothes and warm food without having to do it myself.

But it is such a shock to go from living in your own little hole-in-the-wall to suddenly sharing a house with your family again. It’s especially a shock when you go from a tiny apartment to a normal-sized house. My first day back, after taking a shower, I asked my mother if the sink had always been that deep. She looked at me as if I’d gone insane.

(It was a genuine question!)

Although, trust me when I say that parents will also have to adjust to having you back. My mother recently told me she hadn’t been doing this much laundry while I was away, but that now I’m back she has to do it way more often. On the plus side though, she finally has another mouth to feed again, so maybe it’s not all that bad? (I mean, I like to be fed!)

The post 5 Ways Doing Erasmus Ruins Malta for You appeared first on The Third Eye.

Well…he was right.

We’ve found a New Earth, ladies and gentlemen! NASA confirmed earlier this week that a constellation not far off from us (and, of course, by that, we mean a couple hundred light years away) has a planet that is very Earth like. Good news for us, of course, if we ever destroy our planet so badly that we need to find a new home.

Hopefully space technology will have advanced to a point by then that a couple of hundred light years can be reached in a few weeks rather than…a couple of hundred years.

The Kepler-186 System, found in the Cygenus constellation and named after the famous astronomer, has a planet on it that is so far unnamed, but scientists have dubbed Kepler-186f, it being the 6th planet farthest from the centre in the system. The region where liveable planets are called has been named "the Goldilocks Zone’ by scientists — obviously a very well thought out pun — and is the region where planetary objects can support liquids.

While this is not the first "new Earth’ to be found — scientists estimate another 40 billion Earth-sized planets in our own Milky Way — Kepler-186f is the first to be found orbiting another star altogether. The fact that this planet is at a certain distance from the sun, and if hypothetically the atmosphere and liquid percentages are similar to Earth, then the theory of there being life on this planet gains a whole new weight.

An "Earth Analog’ is a planet that has similar conditions to the ones on our own. Other discoveries have been made of other planets similar to Earth, but Kepler-186f is the one that has come the closets so far, apparently.

More information on space discoveries can be found at www.nasa.gov .

The post The Truth is Out There appeared first on The Third Eye.

Speaking as a University student, who has reached the age of consent 3 years ago, this matter does not concern me personally. However, if we think about it, isn’t there a reason why the age of consent is 18 in the first place?

Psychologically, full maturity isn’t reached until around the ages of 18-20, in both males and females. While teenage bodies may be physically ready to make decisions based on whether they want to have sex or not, their mentality may not have matured to the point where they are making these decisions logically, and this can result in serious repercussions.

That being said, it is of course an individual’s personal decision whether they want to have sex or not, and this should be left up to them. If they feel that they are mature enough to have sex before the age of consent, without breaking any statutory laws, than they should be permitted to do so. However, not all individuals, at 16, are able to make this decision safely.

In order for the age of consent to be lowered to 16, the first thing that must be done is the beginning of a proper sex education in Maltese schools.

While the Internet is a vast and wonderful thing, isn’t it a bit twisted that we only ever learn things if we have to actively search for them? Most of us have probably gotten a half-assed talk from our parents about The Birds and The Bees, and heard in school that having sex is something filthy that only married, heterosexual people can have and that it’s all about having babies, rather than an act of love or something to enjoy (because, let’s face it, most people just want to have sex for the fun of it).

The lack of sexual education in Malta is disturbing, and if the age of consent is to be 16, then we need to start doing something about it immediately. In Form 5, at least three hours in the entire scholastic year should be devoted to sex education — STIs, protection, testing, the proper use of condoms (can you believe that 1 in 5 people have no idea how to actually put a condom on?) for both men and women, and other alternatives besides abstinence. Things to be addressed should also be proper care of vaginas and penises, such as keeping genitals clean.

The next step in proper sexeducation should be targeted towards members of the LGBTQ+ community. Normally, sexual education is exclusively directed towards heterosexual relationships, leaving teenagers who identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum without any knowledge or help. Issues such as discovery of sexual orientation, STI risks in the LGBTQ+ community and even addressing proper use of protection should be included in these talks.

The mentality, however, should not be changed only in education. Most people, even those past the age of consent, are still embarrassed to buy condoms from the pharmacy, because of the looks that they receive over the counter from other customers or the pharmacist themselves. Females cannot buy the pill or visit a gynaecologist without parental consent, which isn’t fair if the individual in question wants to keep certain things private from her parents. Therefore, after reaching out in schools to the people we’re trying to educate about safe sex, we should also reach out to society in general to not shame people for doing something they feel they are mature enough to do.

In short, while there must be some serious consideration taken into the thought of lowering the age of consent, if this does go through, we mustn’t just lower the age and leave it at that. We must educate people, specifically teenagers, in making sure that if they are to make decisions, they are well informed ones, and that they won’t be looked down upon for making them.

The post The Birds and The Bees? appeared first on The Third Eye.

Well, whether you specifically asked for it or not, here’s an article about some alternative media — things you wouldn’t normally consider to be recommended, but that I’m telling you to give a chance, because it deserves it!

Podcasts

As most of you know, podcasts are another way of saying "radio show I can download and don’t have to listen to live’. This medium has grown in the past few years, but it’s taken a huge leap forward with the story-telling kind of podcasts. Among them is the very popular, very successful Welcome to Night Vale, which has been going on for about two years at this point, and has gathered quite the world wide following.

WTNV is a podcast in the guise of a community radio for a small town, Night Vale, located somewhere in the desert in North America (we believe). A lot of strange things happen in Night Vale, strange things that are reportedly normal and shouldn’t cause alarm to anyone who has lived there all their lives, as we who listen to it have. It is brought to us by Commonplace Books’ Jeffrey Craner and Joseph Fink, and narrated by the smooth, loveable voice of Cecil Baldwin.

I recently had the pleasure of witnessing Cecil Baldwin perform a Welcome to Night Vale live show in The Olympia Theatre in Dublin, and I can honestly say that I never thought a person I had only heard and never seen could actually sound as great in real life as he does on my iTunes. The man is a great talent, and the writers do a wonderful job of keeping the suspense and the humour at an all-time high, whether it’s a live show or a recorded one.

Web Series

YouTube is a great, thriving community. From YouTubers who gain recognition all the way down to funny videos, somewhere along the line we find web series. A recent and very popular trend with these type of shows is the adaptation of classic novels into a series of short videos that follow the story as closely as possible, with modern influences of course. Web series are a great way of getting a quick, 5 minute fix of something, and they also tend to update at least twice a week, which is great news for all of us impatient folk!

The most popular one, to date, appears to be The Lizze Bennet Diaries, a retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. However, 2014 has also seen the birth of two great new such shows — Frankenstein, MD and Carmilla.

Frankenstein, MD follows the exploits of young Victoria Frankenstein as she seeks to accomplish the impossible, with the help of her trusty lab-partner, Iggy. It’s a fresh way of looking at the classic Frankenstein story, especially considering the fact that our hero has been turned into a heroine.

Carmilla is a college adaptation of the novel by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu, and is told by Laura, who finds herself stuck in the middle of a bunch of mysterious disappearances, a love triangle between her tutor and a vampire, and that same vampire being her roommate. The series boasts a majority female cast, and even the tagline should be enough to convince you to watch it (“Love will have its sacrifices”…shivers!)

Web Comics

Web comics tend to be a great way of getting a momentary lapse of boredom out of your way. Usually about 4 panels long and updating regularly, there’s something out there for everyone — whether you’re looking for absolutely random and making no sense, to a character driven story that takes up years of your time.

Wolf Puppy and Cyanide and Happiness are the perfect examples of "totally random and unexpected’, with the latter being extremely popular worldwide and updating every day for over ten years.

Poorly Drawn Lines and The System are also seemingly random, although they do sometimes follow a bit of a plot with each other, in that some comics reference each other. While not as random as the two mentioned above, they are still a delight to read, and maybe a bit better drawn as well…

For a good mix of random and plot, Battle Dog is the story of a princess who must battle evil (reluctantly) with her chosen companion — her pet dog. However, we’re still not entirely sure if Battle Dog has some sort of magical powers that help him help his owner, or if he’s really just a dog who’s great at doing dog-like things…

However, the winners of "great plot’ go to Go Get A Roomie, Something Positive and Girls with Slingshots, all drawn by independent artists with great stories in mind, that probably didn’t start out being this great!

Go Get A Roomie follows Lillian and Roomie, a mysterious friend she makes who tends to sleep in her house a lot, but who won’t reveal her real name. In the midst of all their adventures in domesticity, we also see various relationships being struck up, friendly, romantic and otherwise.

Something Positive follows the adventures of a group of friends living in Boston, who get up to all sorts of adventures — it’ll pretty much leave you either wheezing with laughter, clawing your eyes out with frustration, or sitting in a heap in a corner of your room crying. There is no in between with this masterpiece. (Also, one of the main characters is a boneless cat. For comic relief, of course!)

Girls with Slingshots also takes place in the Boston area, and in fact, it and Something Positive have collaborated in the past to give us combined comic pages! Girls with Slingshots is primarily about Hazel, a woman with no plan in life, who ends up trying her best to waddle her way through life, love, and a self-employed gig. One of the main characters is a Mexican cactus with a Scottish accent that only the drunk characters can interact with. It’s basically the personification of everything every 20-year-old feels, with a talking cactus added.

So there you have it folks! Rather than, next time, asking for a new TV show, movie, or book to save you from boredom, try one of these on for size, and you probably won’t be so disappointed!  

The post Something Different | A Taste of Alternative Media appeared first on The Third Eye.

Below, I’ve listed a few short reasons as to why everybody should watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and why secretly, deep down, we’re all Slayers too.

She’s not your typical hero.

If you expect the show to be about a bad ass who has a hero complex and wants to save the world, then you’re in for a surprise. Buffy Summers spends the first few seasons of the show utterly hating the fact that she’s the Slayer. Hell, she says multiple times about how she would do anything not to be the Slayer, to have a normal life, to not be constantly fighting off any form of evil. She’s not the classic hero archetype, and it’s refreshing to see.

It’s written by Joss Whedon.

This is the same guy who gave us Firefly, Avengers: Assemble, and Agents of SHIELD, amongst others. If there’s ever a story teller in the world who deserves the type of recognition that Joss gets, it’s definitely him.

The characters are so loveable.

From Anya the Vengeance Demon to Giles the librarian, every single character on this show is made to be relatable and loveable. You’ll find yourself laughing at Oz’s quips, sympathizing with Xander, rooting for Willow, and — dare I say it — falling in love with Cordelia more and more as the series progresses. There’s not a single character that you can dislike on this show (except maybe Angel, who is just way too broody sometimes) — even the villains steal your heart away!

The episodes play with your heart like it’s a violin.

The show is the perfect mix of drama and comedy and action and suspense. And occasionally, the tear-jerker episodes crop up. Seasons 5 through 6 are full of these episodes, making you want to slam your head against a wall in utter despair — deaths, break ups, more deaths, characters leaving the town forever; you name it, it happens. And you will cry, knowing that somewhere out there, Joss Whedon is growing stronger as you shed more tears.

The character development is incredible.

We see these characters grow, from high school sophomores to college students struggling to keep their lives in check (aren’t we all?). You can’t help but feel like a proud parent as you see that these kids have gone from needing help to being the help that someone needs, and understanding how dark the world is. They grow stronger, more understanding of things, and (sadly) a little bit tough to the hardships of life. But it happens to all of us.

It gives you a sense of belonging and purpose.

Perhaps the most important part of watching the TV show for me wasn’t the story, or the characters, or the way that the episodes touched me in some way or another. The show is important because, in dark times, watching the episode titled Chosen made me feel like part of something bigger. As Buffy herself says during the episode "My power, shall be your power.’ She gives her group of Potential Slayers the strength to be Slayers, and if that moment wasn’t the most empowering thing in the world to watch as a teenager, I don’t know what is. It made me feel like I could take on anything, like I was a Slayer too, like I was strong and could defeat any evil. And that, ultimately, is what Buffy is all about — being strong and defeating the world’s darkest dark, together.

The post Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Everybody is a Slayer appeared first on The Third Eye.

Marielle Xuereb is 21 years old, and doing pretty well for herself living away from Malta. Apart from integrating well into University life in Limerick, she has also become the President of the LGBTQ+ society at UL, something that, in Malta, might have been near-impossible. Finding time before a class we (coincidentally) shared, Marielle and I sat down for a quick lunch and a few questions about life in Limerick.

“The thing about UL is that there’s more of a campus life, and you can be as involved as you want to be,” she says. “I mean, there’s bars on campus, and it’s not a boring Uni life. In Malta, you go to lectures, you go back home, there’s nothing much going on. It’s an immersive experience here, and living at University is a total lifestyle of its own.” When asked about Malta, she gives a small laugh. “Malta’s different. It’s not better or worse, just different; even if I do personally prefer Limerick. We’ve got student organizations in Malta, but it’s very limited participation. And as I’m part of the Clubs and Societies group on campus here, I can see the differences there.”

Conversation quickly led to OUT in UL, the LGBTQ+ society in Limerick, and I could sense the pride when she talked about the society she had come to lead. “I had been on the executive for a semester. A close friend of mine was President at the time, and he wanted to step down. I had come out — what? A month before? — and my friends convinced me to run for President. I knew I wanted to go up in the society, that I wanted to give back to the group that had helped me so much, although I wasn’t totally comfortable with the idea at first. But, it was worth it.”

OUT in UL has grown over the years, and currently sports a large number of members and a great executive backing Marielle. This seems to have had a positive effect on campus, even if just for the members of the society. “The more active members there are, the more people attend, and the more friends you make. Walking around campus gives you a sense of community. You see them at meetings and outside of them, and it helps you know that you’re not alone.” Welfare officers on campus also make UL safer for LGBTQ+ people on campus, as they fall under their care.

Of course, a President is nothing without her crew. All the executive is elected, and must have an open mind and an open heart, be willing to help anyone, and not display any sort of phobia — homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, and the list goes on. The executive is also trained, by personal choice, in counselling services, suicide prevention, safety talks (methods of conversation to approach people contemplating suicide) and assist services (the next step after safety talks). At least one person on the executive has to have been trained as such previously.

When asked about the LGBTQ+ scene, both in Malta and in Limerick, Marielle took a deep breath before responding.  “The scene at University and the scene in town is much different. I must admit, I’m not very aware of the scene in Malta from here, but it does seem limited. Here, whether you’re in Limerick City or on campus, there’s always something to do. The best experience for me was that I get to go to various events all over the country, and meet new people every time. I feel like Limerick works as a very big village, so everything is very immersive here. However, whether it’s a small or a big university, people’s limitations are still there. It doesn’t feel like something bigger here — size wise, yes; people wise, no.” In her opinion, the mindset at UOM is broader, because it’s the only university around. UOM activities become something nationwide when they’re big and publicized right. “It’s all about perspective — here, we’re part of clubs and societies; in Malta, you’re part of an NGO, an organization. It’s, in some ways, taken more seriously in Malta.”

Luckily, Marielle has never had to face any sort of problem on campus. “There’s a culture of acceptance here. I’ve never heard of anybody being attacked in town — just heckled. It’s generally more accepting here than in Malta; they’re more open.”

The generic question on labelling did come up, and Marielle gave a long sigh before answering. “Labels are useful and are there for anyone who wants to use them to do so, but they aren’t so important. People should use them to the extent that they want to, but that’s it. Some people use them because it helps them, but they shouldn’t carry so much weight. We give power to words, and labels shouldn’t be given that power.”

Being the President of a society such as OUT, I was sure that Marielle had some advice to give to others leading similar organizations that focused on helping youth in some way or another. She gave me a simple set of instructions that seemed to be the best route for any such organization — listen to your members, keep an eye out on current situations, try to be relevant in your meetings, and always be supportive.

Our final discussion point veered a bit closer to home — specifically, Malta. In her eyes, Malta seems to be doing well on the LGBTQ+ rights front — “better than Ireland,” she jokingly says. “But on a people level, it’s going to need time and education. With the cultural climate and religious influence, even more so. We need to grab a hold of an open mind and break heteronormativity’s vicious cycle.” There have been good advancements with the law, she points out, but she chooses to stay in Limerick because, for her, it’s much more comfortable than Malta. “It’s not because of backward ruling, but because of the general atmosphere. I feel like I can be myself here, more so than I ever could in Malta.”

I would personally like to wish Marielle and the rest of her executive team good luck with the rest of their term on the team, and a well done on running a successful society!

The post ’But it was Worth it’ | An Interview with Marielle Xuereb appeared first on The Third Eye.

HeForShe is the United Nation’s newest Solidarity Movement, making its mission statement very clear from the get-go: to bring together both men and women in support of gender equality, for the benefit of everyone around the world. The website claims that gender equality isn’t just a women’s issue — it’s everyone’s issue. We are all born of women (unless you’re a seahorse) and we all know at least one woman in our lives — be it a mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, cousin, friend, colleague, or boss, women are all around us, and it’s about time that the world has decided that this issue of gender equality should just stop being an issue.

Recently, Emma Watson, of Harry Potter fame, stood in front of a group of UN delegates and delivered a speech that resounded all over the Internet — both going down well with some, and coursing like poison for others.

“My recent research has shown me that "feminist’ has become an unpopular word,” she says boldly, almost glaring at the audience as she says this. And she’s right. The word "feminist’ is not a popular word — as she puts it, being a feminist means that your actions are “too strong, too aggressive, isolating and anti-men. Unattractive, even.” She laments that not one country in the world expresses full gender equality to its citizens, and calls men to arms in this movement towards equality and solidarity — just because people have different genitals does not mean they should be treated differently.

And how sick are we of this, ladies? How tiring is it to have to constantly feel that we have to validate ourselves in front of men just to be OK in this world? Shouldn’t this have been sorted out a long time ago, when women got the right to vote and all that history that we learn about? Shouldn’t all this just be a thing of the past? I pray for the day that teenagers worldwide open text books and read about the feminist movement and think "Well, duh! Of course women deserve equal rights!’

But sadly, we’ve got a long way to go. An alarmingly, great deal of women all over the world hear the word "feminism’ and cringe, saying “No, that’s not me. I’m not a feminist. I believe in equality, but not feminism.”

Well, thank you for clarifying that, but feminism kind of means equality.

What people seem to think about feminism is that it’s all about women being better than men, or women taking away men’s rights. They, of course, couldn’t be further from the truth. Feminism is about genders being equal, not about taking away something from someone else. It’s about fighting so that discrimination in the work place doesn’t happen, so that sexual harassment is put down to a minimum, so that anybody in the world who feels victimized for being "a sissy’ or "weak’ doesn’t have to feel that way anymore. Feminism isn’t a women’s movement strictly for women, it includes men too.

How many times have we discounted the men who are raped but never speak up about it? How many times must we tell teenage boys that they need to have a certain aesthetic to be considered "manly’, or that showing feelings is something only a girl can do? Feminism is also fighting for these inequalities, these false perceptions. It also fights for transgendered individuals, who feel like neither gender is welcoming to them, to give them a platform where they are accepted.

So yeah, I may be a mere writer for a website you happened to click on today, but I am also a feminist, and I am proud of that, because it’s not a movement of hate, it’s a movement of acceptance. And you’d be missing out to not associate yourself with something that preaches a better world for everyone.

The post HeForShe | A Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality appeared first on The Third Eye.

And always, one of the most important questions to ask: “How old were you when you got into it?”

Sometimes, I get people who say that they were pretty young when they did — I, personally, read The Philosopher’s Stone at the age of six — and others admit that it was only when they were around fifteen or sixteen that they actually read the books, but they’d watched all the movies anyway. Nevertheless, you will find the same level of dedication between those who can answer all the questions you ask, no matter their age. And we call these people, not only fans, but members of the Harry Potter Generation.

A generation, by dictionary definition, means "all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively’. While Harry Potter fans span across all ages, the Generation in itself can only be made up of people who experienced Harry’s story from a young age. Strictly speaking, if you were 11 when you read the newly released first book, then you literally grew up with Harry all the way to The Deathly Hallows. However, also strictly speaking, Harry’s age in 1997 was seventeen, and the first book was released in that same year. So if you were seventeen in 1997 and a fan, then you were technically also part of the Generation.

So what about those other people who started reading the books a few years later, or watched the movies and then read the books? Are they part of the Generation too?

In my opinion, absolutely.

While the word "generation’ means strictly those people born in a certain age, the Harry Potter Generation spans across the years to include those who would normally not have been accepted. My brother, at thirty-two years old, is a definite member of the Generation: at eighteen years old, he was just as obsessed as I was at six. He and I have shared the books, watched all the movies together, bought each other merchandise and had long, lengthy discussions about the books and theories and what House we each belonged in. Simply because he is currently in his thirties doesn’t means that he’s any less of a member of this (not so little) group as I am.

So what makes the people of the Harry Potter Generation so unique? There have surely been other fandoms like them —those who grew up watching Spock and Kirk travel the galaxy, those who pretended that they were actually Hobbits on a quest, even those who came after Harry Potter who think about ways of surviving The Hunger Games. The Potterheads, as they affectionately call themselves, grew up relating to Harry in ways that these other groups of fans, however, couldn’t.

When most of us started reading the books, we were all at the age when magical worlds filled with unknown creatures and secrets appealed to us. Harry was an eleven year old thrust into a world where, not only was he admired for something he had done as a baby, but where he belonged. Who of us didn’t want to belong to a secret world like that as preteens and adolescents? Harry lived a life we could only dream of — a life where he learnt how to cast spells, had a pet owl, met all manners of creatures and interacted with a world that we all so desperately wish existed.  Sure, Harry was the one who had to face Voldemort, but who of us wouldn’t have been glad to at least be a normal, average student at Hogwarts?

One thing about growing up reading the book that’s extremely important is that as the characters grew up, so did we. Harry became a reflection for our lives and feelings. Who of us didn’t sympathize with him when he started to (finally!) crush on Ginny? Who of us wasn’t a little bit aggravated at Ron when he failed to compliment Hermione properly at the Yule Ball? I’d be damn surprised if at least one of us wasn’t struck by OWLS as much as every other person at Hogwarts was — probably we read that part when we had just found out about our O Levels ourselves!

As the books progressed, Harry matured and the writing changed from that of a young and bright eleven year old’s view to somebody slowly growing up and experiencing the world. And as he grew up, we grew up too. We all started to understand what it meant to grow up and for things that were once viewed as beautiful and magical to have an underlying, dark feeling. We all suddenly understood what it meant to have somebody close to you die. We now understand what it’s like to have a figure of great wisdom in our life appear flawed. Harry was our way of understanding that the things that happened to us as we grew up were perfectly normal — “If it happens to somebody who’s meant to save the world, then I can get through it too!”

The book series also brought onto us a new way of looking out ourselves and our peers. Hogwarts Houses became something of immense importance to you. Growing up, we all search for an identity. J K Rowling gave us the perfect answer with the four houses.

For those of you who aren’t very familiar, here is a breakdown of the houses:

Gryffindor, House of the Courageous, the Lion

Ravenclaw, House of the Wise, the Raven

Hufflepuff, House of the Loyal, the Badger

Slytherin, House of the Cunning, the Snak

By giving us a sure fire, easy way of classifying ourselves related to characteristics we all know we have inside us, the Hogwarts Houses gave us a sense of belonging. Even if Hogwarts isn’t real, we can at least feel like we belong by classifying ourselves into one of these four, and knowing that there are other people out there just like us, who belong in our House and will stick up for us in times of crisis. Hogwarts Houses helped us form an identity in a time when doing so in our lives was important. And maybe we may not have worn it as a badge of pride for the most part, but it was still an intricate part of us.

(Of course, this isn’t the case for me — I wear my Ravenclaw scarf with pride whenever it’s not in the wash, and have gotten multiple people tugging at it and grinning at me when they see the House emblem stitched into it.)

Speaking of Houses, the Potter-verse also gave us the chance to have a whole group of people just like us. Potterheads are found all over the world, and striking up a conversation with one of them — even someone you just met five minutes before — ensures that you have found a friend. Conversations can go on for hours, and when you’re not speaking face to face, you’re sending each other links on Facebook chat or reblogging each other on Tumblr. It’s opened up your doors to new friends, and in a way, a society that only a certain amount of people know the language to. Sure there are the small time fans, but then there are the fans that know everything and have theories and know their stuff. And they all speak the same language, and that, in my opinion, is absolutely beautiful.

There is nothing better than knowing that, if at least the people in your group of friends don’t understand you, at least there are people in the world who do. Because Harry Potter’s world gave us hope, and an identity, and opened our mind to a world both real and fictional — of dragons and spells and Quidditch, and friends who pretend to cast "Lumos’ in a dark room and have taken a picture of Platform 9 ¾ and listen to you rant your theories out. It showed you a society of people that are willing to have a marathon with you of every movie, and try making homemade Butterbeer. It showed you that you are not alone, and you never will be, because Hogwarts is our home just as much as it was Harry’s.

So together, Potterheads, whether you roar or hiss, wherever in the world you are, the next time you see somebody wearing a House Scarf, or hear somebody talking about the books, see somebody with a Time Turner necklace, or even see somebody brandishing around a plastic replica wand, whatever their age — a sixty year old who started reading because of their children, or a six year old whose parents are fans – know that they speak your language as well as you do. Know that the world you both belong to is welcoming, and that you are never truly alone.

The post Raise your Wands | Analyzing the Harry Potter Generation appeared first on The Third Eye.

Below, I’ve listed five examples of foreshadowing that I found particularly interesting, from two TV shows and two movies that I’ve watched, that I believe are pretty damn good examples of the concept.

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers!

5. Cruel Intentions — Sebastian drives past a cemetery in the opening scene

For those of you who haven’t watched Cruel Intentions, I recommend you go do that right now. If you don’t have the time to watch, let me break it down for you: rich New York City kids out to ruin other rich New York City kids through a web of lies, deceit, drugs and sex. The movie’s main protagonists are Kathryn and Sebastian, step-siblings with a little bit too much incestuous feelings going on between them. The opening scene of the movie is a large graveyard (almost "World War I graveyard’ scale large) that pans out to include our first glimpse of Sebastian, who is driving past the cemetery in his prized possession — his Jaguar Roadster.

The foreshadowing? The Jaguar Roadster is what (indirectly) lands him in a cemetery himself. Sebastian dies towards the end of the movie, due to a bet that would have lost him his precious car if he loses. Granted, he did lose, and got hit by a taxi, which ultimately killed him.

4. Orphan Black — “Do I have a twin sister or something?”

Sarah Manning, orphan and conwoman, lands herself back home in Canada, trying to make amends with her foster mother in an attempt to get her daughter back. Simply ending up on the train station when she did results in a chain of events that leads her to realize that she isn’t as alone as she thought — she’s a clone. The series strives to answer two questions: “Who created the clones?” and “Who’s trying to kill them?” Amongst a set of characters — some loveable, some not — we’re introduced to various clones. A conwoman, a detective, a scientist, a housewife, and a psychopath named Helena. But at the beginning of the season, when Sarah is none the wiser about clones and genetic identical, she asks her best friend if maybe she has a twin sister she didn’t know about.

The foreshadowing? She does.

Helena, the psychopathic clone, is in fact Sarah’s twin sister, separated at birth by their birth mother in an effort to protect them. However, the line is uttered in episode one of Season one, and this is all revealed in episode nine of the same season. For those of us who had forgotten about that particular utterance, it was quite the shock. For those of us who remembered it, we’d wished we saw it coming.

3. Back to the Future Trilogy — The way Doc saves himself is revealed way in advance

If you haven’t watched Back to the Future, you’re obviously living under some sort of rock. The story revolves around Marty and Doc, and a car that, when reaching 88 miles per hour, can transport you forward or backwards in time. The trilogy follows a set of events so entwined with each other that it’s almost genius — no scratch that, it is totally genius — how the story plays out. You watch the movies barely expecting any of the events to happen. However, they were all cleverly thought out.

The foreshadowing? The ending is revealed sometime in the second movie…by another movie. In Back to the Future 2, Marty confronts his father’s arch-nemesis Biff about a stolen almanac, while Biff is watching A Fistful of Dollars, a spaghetti western in which Clint Eastwood saves himself from a shoot out by wearing a metal plate under his clothes. In the third movie, Marty himself pulls this same stunt to rescue himself from a shoot out he finds himself in in the Wild West. And towards the end of the third movie, Doc is revealed to have saved himself from being gunned down by terrorists…by the same mechanism.

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Vampire-Willow reveals Real-Willow’s sexuality two seasons in advance

Ah, Buffy. A show that a generation of viewers grew up watching, teaching us values such as "just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean you’re not strong’, "you’re more than your destiny’, and most importantly "never let a Vengeance Demon grant your spur-of-the-moment’ wish. One of the most notable characters of the show was Willow Rosenberg, Buffy’s nerdy best friend, who became involved in witchcraft and discovered her inner lesbian in Season 5 upon meeting Tara Maclay. For most of us watching Buffy, we had been quite surprised. Willow, the same Willow who had a boyfriend and then cheated on him with another guy? A lesbian?!

The foreshadowing? We’d had it coming from Season 3.

Really, if we’d been paying attention, we’d have known that it was coming. In Season 3, parallel universes meet, and we’re introduced to Vampire-Willow — basically, what Willow would be like if she got turned. And Vampire-Willow is very in touch with her inner lesbian (she even flirts with Real-Willow). Real-Willow’s reaction to meeting her vampire counterpart is to turn to her companions and say that she’s "kinda gay’. Really though, we should have seen that one coming.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Dawn’s arrival is predicted earlier on in the series.

Really though, Joss Whedon knows how to give little nudges to the audience. Dawn Summers, Buffy’s little sister who we don’t meet until late into the show, is brought on very suddenly; the reason being she’s actually a mystical entity called The Key, and that everyone was given false memories so that Dawn would be treated like a member of the family even though she literally appeared about fifteen years too late into Buffy’s life. Apparently, nobody was expecting it… Except…

The foreshadowing? We’d had hints all along.

Buffy had had dreams earlier on in the series that listed a few hints that Dawn was going to be around, most notably, two lines: “Little sis coming, I know” and “Be back before dawn”. But they were so cleverly inserted into the whole thing, it pretty much slipped everyone’s notice. Until you rewatch it, of course.

The post Reading Between the Lines | 5 Great Examples of Foreshadowing appeared first on The Third Eye.