Welcome to The Rival American, a university-unaffiliated media publication run by students, for students. We produce opinion editorials, culture critiques, student journalism, and even silly jokes.
Here at the Rival American, we promote safe partying! Always go with a buddy, keep track of your drinks, don’t scooter drunk, and never go to a frat party. Halloweekend (the weekend before Halloween) is a notorious party weekend at AU, and colleges around the country. Halloweekend is usually a defining moment for people- tears are shed, eyeliner is smudged, and costume headpieces end up in the gutter. The Rival Staff has collected the 14 Commandments of Halloweekend, so you can learn from our mistakes and make next year the best Halloweekend ever!
Two days ago the world was blessed with the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Obviously, this has caused the Swifties online to continue to post their theories and easter egg discoveries, which reminded me of my favorite unhinged Taylor Swift related theory: The Haylor Committed Vehicular Manslaughter Theory. It also happens to be based around the time that Taylor Swift was writing the original 1989, so I figured I would revisit this insane sect of Swiftie theories with you all today.
Last year, Disney+ released the sequel to the 1993 cult classic, cleverly and originally titled 2 Hocus 2 Pocus. Just kidding, it’s titled Hocus Pocus 2: Electric Boogaloo. Kidding again. It’s just Hocus Pocus 2. Other than the slightly bland title, I loved it! While I was majorly disappointed not to see more cameos from the first movie, I still had fun. The musical number (One Way or Another), however, can never live up to the first one. A lot of reviews were complaining about the movie’s lack of seriousness, but if you went in expecting a Top Gun: Maverick level of sequel, that’s on you.
Whenever Halloween rolls around I am reminded of the many years I’ve spent in trashy costumes and house parties asking strangers “what are you supposed to be?” Only to be met with an incredibly obscure or equally obvious answer (I should’ve known the guy double fisting Marlboros and a Natty Light was Bojack Horseman). I’ve come to appreciate the jankiness of college Halloween antics, but that wasn’t always the case. In honor of the worst best holiday we’ve all come to lovingly dread, here’s my list of reasons why Halloween isn’t for the faint of heart.
Are you obsessed with the color forest green? How about frogs? Do you ever find yourself spending a little too much time in the warm lighting section at home depot? Or have you ever been glued to the couch watching HGTV? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then – like me – you may be the bisexual child of two granola liberal parents!
You’ve been sexiled. Welcome to a key pillar of the college experience! Here at The Rival, we feel your pain and want to help you figure out what to do now that you can’t relax in the comfort of your own bed. Here are a couple ideas of how to kill the next few minutes hours while your roommate gets it on.
Are you queer? Are you desperate for a movie about queer culture that doesn’t end with the most devastating plotline of all time? Unfortunately, the list of films that check both of those boxes is quite slim. Until the Hollywood powers-that-be grace us with some better options than the classic queer tragedies, I have compiled a list of deeply queer-coded films to scratch that itch.
Let me be clear, this isn’t something I get paid for, or that I do because it’s fun, or because I believe there’s a level of political gain. Anyone who has any knowledge of survivorship or sexual violence can tell you that speaking out about it scares people in power. They can also tell you that survivors and those who advocate for them are forced out of political and social arenas as well. But I do this work because I want to help people.
With Elon Musk finally closed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, with a stated goal of loosening speech restrictions on the platform. We took to the quad to get the opinion of AU wonks.
