In the Fandom-world shipping is nothing uncommon, I think everybody has shipped something at some point in their life, even without realizing it. But for all of those who don’t necessarily know what shipping even is I’ll try to explain it, and everything that comes with it.

Shipping is the act of really liking the idea of two people being in a relationship. There are thousands of ships out there, and there are no limits to shipping… you can ship your brother with that one girl he keeps talking about, you can ship yourself with that one amazing book-character, you can ship a model with a singer, two bandmates, your parents, your pets even your houseplants! Certain Fandoms have their own really popular ships, like Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter for example, but what would a ship be without a shipname. Continue reading Shipping for beginners →

You probably know the Austrian casting show which is moderated by Melanie Scheriau. Originally it was for girls only, like the German show ‘Germany’s Next Top Model’, but since 2014 boys also have the chance to become Austria’s next top model.

I think that this was a very good idea, because now the models always have a partner of the opposite sex to do photo shoot with. It’s also very interesting to see the models shoot with models of the other sex they personally know, and to see with whom they can work together the best. Maybe there is even somebody they fall in love with. Continue reading Austria’s Next Topmodel: Boys AND Girls, not Boys or Girls →

Imagining worlds different to the one we live in has been a favourite pastime of humanity for longer than the first written languages even came to be. In the meanwhile, the section of fiction known as “fantasy”, with its trademark magic and dragons and elves (oh my!) has become one of the most popular genres in modern society. There are few children who haven’t read or watched the Harry Potter series, and an even smaller fraction who’ve never even heard of the bespectacled wizard.

Of course, the fantasy genre is far from exclusive to children’s books, as we can see all around us. One of the most popular TV shows on air today is HBO’s Game of Thrones, adapted from George R. R. Martin’s acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire book series, and it’s no secret that with all the violence, murder, sex, and profanity the show has to offer, it’s not a Saturday morning favourite.

Martin’s books, along with Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and a healthy chunk of J. R. R. Tolkien’s entire bibliography, are examples of “high fantasy”, in contrast to “low fantasy”, examples of which are J. K. Rowling’s aforementioned Harry Potter series and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. Continue reading A Song of High and Low Fantasy →

As I told you in my last our exchange partners from Spain came to Austria.

Later, about a week ago, I travelled to Spain for the exchange. There were some differences in the way my partner lived  that I’m going to tell you about now. Continue reading Student Exchanges Spain and Austria →

Are you following the show “Germany’s Next Topmodel“? The show is currently on season 11. This year the jury consists of Heidi Klum, Thomas Hayo and Michael Michalski.

This year they decided to split the 20 girls up into two teams – Team Thomas and Team Michael. I don’t think that this was the best idea because when there are only 2 contestants left on one team they can’t just kick out one of them, because it would be unfair for one team to only have one member left. In the past years the contestants advancement only depended on the performance and the strength a model had in the past week, but in the current season this doesn’t seem to matter as much, because the teams need to stay balanced. Also I think that when there were no teams the candidates were rated more equally, because now of course the team leader doesn’t treat the other team the same way he treats his own. Continue reading Germany’s Next Topmodel →