Two Years of Auxiliary Complex!
Acting as a summary of AuxComp as a whole, let’s take a look at this wild ride
In all honesty, this anniversary came upon me silently and seemingly inconsequentially, much like all the lessons I’ve learned through AuxComp. Perhaps the first of which being don’t start a blog around election season so two years later, when this is the most important race of your life, you aren’t swamped with a front page article covering it for your school newspaper. While the timing may be rough, I am beyond glad it is what it is.
I imagine life with AuxComp to be incredibly boring–maybe your first sign to start a Substack of your own! (I’m a known Substack pusher, can you blame me?)
But anyway, beyond the general reflection, I thought that I’d take a walk through some of my favorite posts as a sort of recap and almost reliving my life as seen through these posts. Let’s begin :)
What Does The Glorification of Abuse In Romance Novels Mean For Young Readers?
Wow is that a long title… certainly understandable for my first actual post, ever! This piece really does reflect the innate reason why AuxComp came to be in the first place: I wanted a place to rant—but in a sophisticated way! I have a hard time reading old articles most of the time, but this article brings a sense of comfort in the way I so specifically remember learning to form my arguments and articles.
[De]influencing Can’t Be In Good Faith
![[de]influencing can’t be in good faith](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1880eaf4-e4d7-4496-945d-7498aedc40c0_720x597.jpeg)
Wow it only took a few months to actually get good at titling my posts! This article was really fun to write, not only because it was my first real post “on the pulse” and following a trend closely, but because I got actual quotes from people. Think of it like a future prediction for my work in the school newspaper and my interviews with people now. Speaking of, any suggestions for more interviewees? Sound off in comments <3
Okay, we just skipped about a year of posts, but 2023 was largely me finding my mark, but I had yet really paid attention to my specific beats and topics—perhaps life was simpler when I wasn’t so focused on trends. But anyway, oh my gosh, 2024! This was my first collab post with the amazing
! I’ve always, always raved about her but the consistency in her work and the discussions we were able to have were incredible. Genuinely, working with her was such an important step in the growing of AuxComp, not just literally, but in how I’ve adopted a more in-depth, analytical side with my posts.Drake vs Kendrick: Where Do Women Factor In?
First. Big. Post. First viral post. In the spur of the moment, probably fueled by unbridled patriotism, I made timeline of the Drake/Kendrick beef and wrote this article in under TWO. HOURS. Everything felt so crazy and fast for probably two days after a posted a TikTok that immensely bolstered AuxComp’s popularity. This post, more than anything, taught me to trust my gut and know my audience. I will forever thank the opportunities this gave me in terms of confidence in my work and ideas.
“Blondes or Brunettes?” Colorism Through Hair
This year I started to actually, genuinely, really fall in love with my articles—not only the topics but the ways I formed structures and rhythms to writing. Colorism through hair is something that had been on my mind forever but I had been continually been struggling to phrase and properly do justice. Even now, there’s a million things unsaid in the article. Despite this, this article was beyond satisfying, and I realize now the things unsaid only lead more discussion—a key reason to why AuxComp is still up and operating.
In The Music Industry, Love Is A Losing Game
A more recent one, but another I still love and am proud of. I said before I don’t tend to like rereading my articles (even now, after I hit “publish" it is so difficult to even think about the writing in it, as if every single flaw gets immortalized), but this one is such a special case. With this article, I have a distinct memory of finding the core of the article halfway through as I was working through my analysis and everything suddenly clicking into place on what this purpose of this piece really was. In this piece on the music industry, I think I have found myself and refined my work. This was such an interesting topic and I’m glad many found enjoyment in it.
Thanks for sticking around :)
Hope you enjoyed this simple post! Life in October was crazyyy (for personal updates you’ll have to wait until December, I’m afraid, with the last quarterly review of this year), so alas, I was unable to post as often, but! Things are finding their way back around and I can’t wait to see what comes with this next year of AuxComp!
Be sure to share with a friend, someone who has been especially into politics, or your resident RedBull drinker!
Love and appreciate you all more than works can manage, Alaia ♡