PRESIDENT OF EXCELSIOR: CHLOE VALENCIA TJAKRA Hello again! We’re back with Excelsior’s 3rd issue - everything about the West. 2022 was a wild year. With so many things happening around the world, it’s easy to get lost in misinformation, or not enough information! I’m sure we all hope for a better 2023, but for now, we leave you an issue filled with events from this jam-packed year. Happy reading! MEMBERS: Tracy Anthony Kresna Gichelle Natashya Winata WRITERS: Alana Angellyn Tang Nadine Felisca Tunas Neysa Lawrence Nicole Marilyn Ma Nicole Viola Sakran CO-EDITOR IN CHIEF CREATIVE & ART DIRECTOR Audrey Angdias GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Alicia Tarra Ramaun Emily Razali Gillian Joythania Utomo Rachel Karen Wijaya SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Patricia Anand Sutamin SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM Adrian Gunawan Jesslyn Abigail Johnson Audrey
•The Nightmare of Dream - Page 1 •The Dark Side of Streaming - Page 9 •The Death of Queen Elizabeth II: Does The End Really Justify The Means - Page 15 •Gun Rights and Gun Control in America - Too Deep to Help - Page 21 •Climate Revolution: The Past, Present and Future - Page 25 •There is A PipeBomb in Your Mailbox - Page 34 CContents: C ontents: ontents:
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THE DARKSIDE STREAMING You’re scrol ing peaceful y on Twitter, or Instagram (mainly Twitter), and suddenly you come across a compilation clip of a person playing video games in front of a camera, clicking away at their keyboards. They’re funny, and so you laugh and leave a like and scrol away, no more than a passing thought. That’s a streamer, and their platforms are usual y Twitch or Youtube. A person who interacts with their viewers live, while exploring games and more, is what essential y makes a streamer a streamer. OF 5
Streamers either use this as their primary income, or a side job to get a lil bit of cash, to support their daily lives and other things. Now how about spicing it up a little? Add a little bit of AI, some artists, rigging and a model design- You have a vtuber! Vtubers are people that stream on those streaming platforms, except that they’re completely anonymous and instead have a persona they act as, and that persona could be anything within the bounds of creation. Dragons, fantasy characters, vampires, humans or witches; anything that’s fictional or real, you got it.Their models range from complex to simple, and the beauty of it is that you get to see all the hard work of artists and coders alike to bring that persona to life, and to see it being appreciated in real time. And with vtubers surprisingly comes companies that produce those vtubers! Contracted artists drawing and producing the models while the person behind the persona goes through series of auditions and interviews to get the spot in the next generation of company vtubers, or wave as people call it. There are managers of course, specifically for each streamer and it also doesn’t just apply to vtubing. The most notable companies in the vtuber space right now are Nijisanji and Hololive, both being Japanese owned companies with various language branches. These companies also produce merch, so if you ever see someone pitying over the state of their wallet and they're carrying packages from overseas, they’re probably a vtuber fan that just lost a couple hundred dollars for merch. These vtubers have (not really) recently blew up in the Western space, with Mori Calliope, Gawr Gura and the first generation of Hololive EN taking over and absolutely dominating their debut, smashing records of gaining subscribers and viewer counts. Gura herself overtook the record of most gained subscribers in a time period, and currently she has over 4 million subscribers and counting. BY: NICOLE MARILYN MA 6
Streaming is fun; it’s a lovely career whether it’s full or part time. They’ll all say that interacting with fans in real time and seeing fan’s reactions in the chatbox are wonderful and an experience in on its own, seeing the words and sentences fizz quickly like when you first open a can of soda. Seeing all the fanart and clips that come out of your streams, meeting new friends, having those precious interactions forever embedded into the internet and your mind with those friends, the list goes on and on about the advantages and the amazing side of streaming. There is definitely no doubt that streaming is a rewarding and favorable career; who wouldn’t want to spend their life playing games for a living and meeting friends and getting paid for that? But as always to any other career out there, there is always the dark side to things. The household name of Uruha Rushia in the Japanese Vtuber space will always resonate within hardcore and longtime fans. She was a beloved streamer in the eyes of fans, and she was a significant presence for a long, long time. Her career flourished and grew, until one dayfans got the news her contract was terminated, and it all went down the drain. 7
You may be wondering- how did such a successful streamer suddenly get her contract terminated and that fans were angry and saddened alike? First; the root of the problem. Uruha used her persona and her presence to grow and use parasocial relationships to her advantage, making her channel grow due to the ‘closeness’ fans felt to her, as if they knew her personally. By definition, parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the other's existence. Like streamers and fans. Your favourite YouTuber or celebrity is completely unaware you exist; it’s the same thing here. Uruha, knowing her audience and herself used that to gain fans and followers, and it worked! It worked very well, as she surpassed many of her coworkers and continued to develop this relationship with her fans. However, with one small notification, it all came crashing down. Another Japanese cover artist and singer, Mafumafu, texts her in the middle of her streaming something along the lines of him being home, implying to a relationship between them. Fans were enraged. They got incredibly mad, burning merch they owned of her and unfollowing and unsubscribing, all because of a simple text alluding to Mafu and Uruha’s relationship. They even got to the point where they sent her death threats and doxxing attempts, threatening her and Mafu and endangering them. It all escalated where her mental health became dangerously low, she leaked confidential company information and bam. She’s terminated. Parasocial relationships are dangerous. They inherently are because the streamer you’re obsessed with? They don’t know you exist, they don’t know you personally and they never will. They eat up your brain, thinking you’re friends with this person when you are not. 8
These types of relationships also affect the viewer and fan themself, you know? It interferes with a person's real-life relationships or daily life, especially if they take the place of real-life interactions and relationships. They can contribute to anxiety, loneliness, and social isolation, especially if they involve social media, which is exactly the case of streamers. Parasocial relationships can become toxic and detrimental to their mental health. They end up depending on someone else’s life; and when ultimately the truth is shown, or something happens that they don’t like- they get a snap back to a reality. And often, that isn’t a good one. On the other hand; streamers may not want the parasocial relationships. Uruha is just one case out of many; what about the ones who don’t want them? They would feel incredibly uncomfortable by the remarks fans give, as if they know them personally and have a ‘connection’. All of this could also lead to obsession, stalking, etc. It’s horrible to think about. These streamers have their own lives out of streaming, their own family and friends, their own privacy. They’re entitled to it and it’s a basic human right. Parasocial relationships are still one part of the iceberg; another is how detrimental streaming is to burn outs and mental health. There is always a pressure for good content- if your content sucks, no one’s going to watch it, in turn having no audience. You have that expectation of always needing to keep up with the trends and the things going on, to always keep calm under pressure and be creative with what you do to stand out and keep your viewers. 9
But it eventually leads to burnout and no breaks- and yet you feel like you still have to keep under the pressure and keep going at it, and you never stop. Your focus is with your career- not you. Do you see where I’m going with this? It’s a vicious cycle that streamers go through, and plenty of them have taken breaks in their careers to give a little more time and love and focus towards themselves, because in their time- they haven’t done anything of the sort. Streaming has its own advantages and disadvantages. Whether you go for it, is your own decision and no one else’s. But sometimes, people are blinded by how amazing the career looks and how easy it seems to be when really, it isn’t. Sometimes, it’s a death sentence. 10
The death of QUEEN ELIZABETH II By: Neysa Lawrence 11
Does the End really Justify the Means? 12
What was your reaction when you heard the end of the reign of our longest and most iconic queen in history? Were you mourning like most citizens were or did you realise that throughout her reign, she has done many cruel acts? The Royal family has been around for 37 generations, making King George the 6th the 35th generation before he passed away. The minute his death was officially announced, Queen Elizabeth the second was obliged to accept the crown. She could be described as the most outstanding holder of the crown as she is the first female monarch to not only serve, but also become the Head of the Armed forces, where she held more than 50 ranks and appointments in the UK and Commonwealth Armed Service. After 70 years of reign and being the longest reigning monarch of all time, the Queen passed away on 8 September, 2022, with official authorities declaring the graven conditions regarding the well-being of the monarch. She died peacefully at her residence at the Balmoral Castle in Scotland, leading Operation Unicorn (the plan if the Queen died in Scotland) to be initiated. After her death was declared and most appeared to be mourning and showing up with bouquets and gifts, it turns out that not everyone was feeling sympathy, loss and mourning. Many activists and other citizens then started questioning the benefits in the continuation of the monarchy. Despite the people of Britain’s lack of agreement as King Charles took the crown, many still question - why does the monarchy still exist? The Queen’s unfortunate passing reignited many doubts of its purpose and place for a monarch today. People started reminiscing about Britain's heinous history and how she is still the face of colonialism. Britain is one of the reasons for the horrible economies of several countries today and people describe them as an irresponsible country despite having a high value monarchy. For instance, the Bengal famine of 1943 has led at least 3 million to die of starvation as a result of Britain’s overseas economic policies. Ultimately, it is time that we come to terms with that history of enslavement, that history of colonisation. This is just the start of the depths of reasons that makes citizens wonder why her funeral anniversary is so celebrated. But then again, why did the British only care about all these unfinished colonised business after Elizabeth’s passing? Where were they during her 70-year reign? Are all these demands for apologies just a pretext to end the monarchy? 13
Before anchoring deeper to the causes that defected her image as an excellent long-reigning queen, the downfall of Britain’s economy must be pointed out irrespective of the evil she has contributed to, showing how much power and influence she had over her country and all over the world. The Monarch’s death has weakened the economy of the United Kingdom by doubledigit inflation, risk of recession, numerous strikes and a fall in sterling. The impact of the celebrations of the jubilee of Queen Elizabeth has resulted in two holidays- the day of her passing and her funeral. The economic impact of the funeral could shave off 0.2% of September’s GDP(British gross domestic product), as a result of one day following her death, King Charles said that he wishes for a seven-day period of royal mourning, with flags flying at half-mast at royal homes until the period concludes. Friday afternoon, royal salutes will be fired in London’s Hyde Park, one round for each year of the queen’s reign. Additionally, all royal homes will be vacant until after the monarch’s funeral that was held on 19 September 2022. Now, moving back to the social issues, such as her face of colonialism and lack of responsibility, that arose after her death. A professor of African studies, Moses Ochonu, stated that the queen’s death has brought attention to “unfinished colonial business”. All the enslavement, violence and theft that has defined imperial rule is unbearable for many people, especially in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific islands, to forget and let go. Although 20 countries did gain independence during her reign, Elizabeth is still a face of colonialism though also a symbol of decolonization which defines how she is discerned in many former British African colonies. Despite the time when Elizabeth visited parts of Africa to humanise the crown and her bloodline, as well as trying to bring harmony between the two countries, many are understandably still feeling the tension and haunted by the memories of Britain’s cruelty in their civil war, having the effect of PTSD, significantly emphasising just how how big of an impact it had to the continent and its citizens as a whole. Many demand an apology, remorse and sympathy, which they got in 2013 for Britain tortured thousands of rebels in detention camps of Kenya, but of course words are not enough and this is why Ochonu said her death prompts the time for reflection rather than mourning. Harsh, but he has a point. She can’t just be disentangled from the history she was a part in and with her great position of power, we can all agree that she can do so much more than just one apology. 14
To make matters worse, Opal Palmer Adisa, the former director of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies told the media that Britain has yet to even apologise to the African diaspora. Over 2.2 million enslaved people were taken to British colonies in the Caribbean. In addition, in Jamaica, children were not educated specifics about their own history, what happened under British rule-even when discussing slavery, as if the educational system is trying to restart a new image of the United Kingdom and “let the past just be the past.” It would seem mature if Britain apologised and admit to their own mistakes, but realistically they have just been dismissive of their horrible cruel actions. Another country that has faced the heinous dominion of Britain is India , who gained independence in 1947 which is 5 years before Elizabeth was crowned Queen. They still expect the Queen to express her sincere apologies and remorse for the damages and impact of colonialism her people have caused. Elizabeth coldheartedly replied “history cannot be rewritten” in response to the 1919 horrible massacre in Jallianwala Bagh-a tragedy causing hundreds of Indians to lose their life due to shootings by the British troops. Cold, but logical and she has a point. Not only that, during India’s colonised times, they were forced to hand over the 105-carat Kohinoor diamond to Britain, along with many other diamonds in the Taj Mahal, which have not been returned until now. Many are also demanding for the return of Cullinan diamond back to South Africa. These jewels represent a history of coercion, subjugation, loot, loss, grief and indigenousness. Distinctly, the queen’s passing has enlightened people of the lack of reparations to former colonies. Another current issue that has made the citizens have further resentment towards the monarchy is the heir to the throne who is now King Charles that acceded to the throne along with his wife, now Queen consort Camilla. Many find Charles unworthy of the throne because of all the horrible things he has done to Britain’s most awaited and beloved princess which is Princess Diana. 15
Their relationship started off rocky and Prince Charles at that time only married Diana Spencer because his “true love”, Camilla, was declined by Queen Elizabeth II due to her “impurities”. So, with both of them having no choice but to be married to each other, they never reached the idealistic prince-princess marriage expectations like those in the fairy tales and instead Charles decided to give up on Diana and continue his affair with Camilla. Devastatingly, in the well-known controversial BBC interview, Diana even claimed that there were 3 people in the marriage, and it did not take long for viewers to realise it was directed to Camilla as the third participant. Diana passed away a year later in a car crash in 1997 and theories of King Charles being involved in it are high as he does have a motive to be with Camilla. Charles then married Camilla in 2005, causing her to be the current queen consort. Overall, it is truly unfair for Diana who claimed that she wanted to be the queen of people’s hearts one day. This is supported by a study that shows only 20% of people support Camilla being queen. Moreover, the civilians don’t want a petulant king. Those with a credible connection to the king are quick to point out his flaws. For example, Tom Bower, the author of Rebel Prince, describes Prince Charles as being petulant and inconsiderate about the times when he inflicts harm. Some of his personal rants and tantrums have been made public, further damaging his reputation and image as a Queen’s son. Ultimately, citizens have commented that they prefer King Charles’s son, Prince William and his wife, Catherine Middleton to be given the king and queen titles instead. But the order of the monarchy does not depend on the wants of the citizens, so we’re stuck with King Charles and queen consort Camilla. Because of this, many citizens along with many news broadcasts question if King Charles III will be the last King or not, leading to the protests of why the monarchy still exists anyways. Lack of empathy, sympathy and responsibility from the past ruler and lack of loyalty and reassurance from the current ruler may cost the whole monarchy to end. The British Kingdom has done a really excellent job in keeping their tradition and sacred royalty for many decades. Generations worth of royalty may collapse sooner than you think all because of lack of allegiance, compassion and responsibility. The question is, should people really care about past mistakes this much and waste regal legacy or are the people right about letting history have the right to define the present and future as well? 16
By: Nicole Viola DATE SUBJECT Gun Rights In America January 15, 2023 Rights GUN In AMERICA The Gun Issue Too Deep to Help 17
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24 The Present As we are standing here in this modern world, there is little to no excuse to say that the current climate has progressively become worse and is being felt around the world. Now the only valid debates are over how fast and how far the climate will change, leaving only one question to answer: how must society solve this well-known problem that humans constantly ignore? Focusing on one regional scope, the Arctic is a place that has come to our concern due to its climate running amok. The Arctic is made up of ocean, with light ice that only absorbs approximately 35% of striking light and 90% by the deep sea. Just as we studied Physics back in our high school days where the color black is a good absorber and the color white is a good reflector, the planet's darker regions absorb more sunlight than its lighter regions, which causes them to radiate more heat, much as a black car will get considerably hotter than a white car on a sunny day. As the Arctic heats, more ice melts away, leaving behind larger areas of the dark ocean that can absorb more sunlight and radiate even more heat, further contributing to the loss of ice. It is a vicious cycle that fuels the area's rapid warming. Not only is the Arctic threatened by the current state of the climate, but also many others are equally threatened.
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Instagram Check out our second issue! We discuss the harm of overworking yourself as if you were God and the misogyny in childbirth. We talk about the science behind dreams iand the ongoing threat of police brutality. There’s Santa Muerte, the undeserved hatred for fanfiction and Yuzuru Hanyu too! Take your pick. Issue 2
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BOMB BOMB PPI IPPEE There's A In The Nord Stream's Mailbox Amidst the known and current blood-curdling war of the Russia-Ukraine war, not far from it under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany on September 26, four explosions blasted were found throughout the Nord Stream. The Nord Stream is a network of offshore natural gas pipelines that consist of two projects, Nord Stream1 and 2 which both have two pipes. It started in 2011, with its undersea pipeline stretching 1200 km from the Russian coast to Germany. Specifically, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline supplies the EU (European Union) with 35% of the gas imported from Russia. And funny enough with 4 pipelines altogether, they were all exploded by sabotage, making the Nord Stream unable to function at all. Early in the morning at 02:03 (CEST), an explosion was detected from the Nord Stream 2 followed by the same detection in Nord Stream 1 seventeen hours later. According to data analysed by a satellite, two “dark ships” that measured around 95 to 130 metres long had passed the Nord Stream 2 damaged areas within several miles causing the suspicions of a sabotage. Both movements and identity of the two boats were unknown but it was unclear whether those ships had anything to do with the explosions. European security officials observed that Russian Navy support ships were in the region of the crime scene, making Russia the first suspect. Russian boats routinely patrolled and operated the area, even though this has been practised daily, this does not imply any suspicions yet Danish military official stated “It’s hard to imagine any other actor in the region with the capabilities and interest to carry out such operation”, UN security Council suggested that Russia had planned this. By: Alana Tang Vladimir Putin The UK Sonicthe hedgehog Not Me! YOu ! Hehehaw 32
As we are all aware of, the EU is strongly against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To date, they’ve provided €3.1 billion (50,808,341,529,000 rupiah) in military assistance as well as training for Ukraine armed forces. So to an extent, looking to Russia does make sense. But Russia has their own fingers to point to. And it just had to be the British and white people to blame. Russia in defence to the accusations, blames the UK. Stating the UK navy personnel blew up the pipelines and helped attack Crimea, then proceeded to not elaborate further and seek the UN’s attention. The UK in response denied any involvement with the Nord Stream, similarly to what the US did when Russia also blamed them. But Russia still holds a grudge against the US, which may be surprising to those who do not know that this wisn’t the first time Russia accused the US. Russia believes that Western Nations have been supplying Ukraine with weapons. Russian history professor, Sergey Radchenko, says that the war between Russia and Ukraine was due to an existential struggle between Russia and the West, “in which Ukraine is being played for a pawn,” he quotes. Jeffrey Sachs, ironically an American professor of economics, played on the side of Russia as he accused the US too, stating its history of destroying the infrastructure of other countries in 1980. And so Sachs along with other experts believed that it will not benefit Russia but instead the US as they said “Police violence against the public will only go before costs outweigh any benefits of hard and coercive measures to stay in line with US interests,” Not to mention evidence that the US dislikes the Nord Stream. In 2019, US ambassadors sent a strongly-worded editorial to DW, explaining that building Nord Stream 2 will increase Russian influence and leverage, allowing Ukrainian sovereignty and stability to be diminished even further. “If anything, Russia could have just turned off the flow of gas,” he added. So is it truly Russia who set off the explosion? Very recently (early 2023), Russia has also suggested that Sweden had “something to hide” over the explosions as well. Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating the incident, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Sweden’s refusal to engage with Russian prosecutors was “confusing, stating that Russia had a right to know the details of the explosion. As of now, both Sweden and Denmark have rejected the idea of Russian participation. However, the explosions and culprit of the explosions in the Nord Stream are still unknown and debated to this day. But make no mistake - whether this affects Russia or the US, the ongoing war during the pandemic still goes on without a break. Sponsored by: Bintendo Pipe bomb: DisclaimerThis pipe bomb is not used to bomb the nordline's pipe bombs. Please do not get any ideas. Excelsior is not responsible for any pipe bombs sent to your mail box. However, excelsior is reponsible for wasting your time while you read this irrelevant section of the article just to fill space. 33