COMIC | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Created by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor

EDITORIAL | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor In 1959, a New Zealand writer published a novel about gay love. Two years later, that novel was banned in New Zealand for being indecent. Now, 67 years after its original publication, A Way of Love is being republished, and its story is an important piece of Aotearoa’s queer literary history. Written by James Courage (1903–1963), A Way of Love was first published by Jonathan Cap

COMIC | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Created Sophia He (she/her) | @meoskyan_art | Graphic Designer

COMIC | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Created by Emannuel Telea (he/him) | @eman_drawsart | Contributing Artist

DEGENERATE GUIDES & ALTERED STATES COLUMN | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Isaac Tenzing | Drugs Columnist Illustrated by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor-in-Chief Holstered within his work belt: 4 Asahi Super Dry cans and a singular joint. My friend tottered into the living room of this particular North Shore house party and proclaimed, “I DON'T WANT TO DIE TILL I'VE HAD SEX ON METH.” He might not have been a wise man, but at this moment, to me, he was

FEATURE | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Anonymous Illustrated by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor-in-Chief Abstinence is a good thing. … …. …… WAIT … wait … hear me out! Abstinence is a good thing if you’re doing it for yourself. In the same way sex is a good, nay, a great thing if you’re doing it because you truly want to. For me, primary school sex-ed was one of those Kiwi experiences that you assume is universal until you casually reference l

FEATURE | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Froth (any/all) | Contributing Writer Illustrated by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor-in-Chief Kink. There are many different perceptions of that word. Some see it as a BookTok staple: muscular men in scream masks pinning you down. Maybe it’s something to try out on an adventurous weekend. Others see it as taboo, “weird sex shit.” Personally, kink is a staple part of my life and of my identity. It isn’t a hat I p

FEATURE | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Mathilde Redamare (they/them) | @MathildeRedamare on YouTube | Contributing Writer The Secret of the Night 1897, by Alphonse Osbert As a sucker for classic romance literature, I find the word chaser compelling. Romance stories told from a woman’s perspective are often built around the hunter-and-prey dynamic: the endorphin-producing high of pursuit, the glint of something animalistic in the pursuer’s eye, the chest heaving wi

FEATURE | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Grace Hunter (she/her) | @gracee_hunter | Contributing Writer It’s easy to judge my participants. After all, 75% of them call themselves progressive yet still hold rigid assumptions about gender, sexuality, and consent. Perhaps they aren’t as evolved as you and I. We’re so evolved – we know not to force tea on an unconscious person. We get consent … right? Sure, we can pretend we’re immune, or we can do the hard, helpful thin

FEATURE | ISSUE ELEVEN | MAHIMAHI / SEX Written by Wren Probett (she/her) | @wrenneso | Contributing Writer I noticed I was being devoured, something I’d long desired above anything else. Two beautiful people were kissing along my neck and torso one Friday night, touching me, biting my ear, making me moan; I realised something. My whole life I’ve been composed of two parts, nerve and soft flesh. All action and interaction have been nothing more than a careful balancing act be

FEATURE | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION Written by Mona Aung | @htet_htet_mona | Contributing Writer Growing up, she was known in her family as အိမ်တွင်းပုန်း(eain twin pone), an introverted homebody. Living amongst buzzing social butterflies, the volume of words, or just general sound, she generates daily is undeniably lower. She loves speaking, yet she struggles. She tends to take her time with words, acutely aware of the power and weight of a sentence. She’d rather listen more tha

FEATURE | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION Written by Freddie Sang (she/her) | @freddiesang.art | Contributing Writer In loneliness, you can experience the world anonymously, untethered to identity, and with space to experience a moment in an all-encompassing way, instances very worth seeking. Now, when most people fill their rare and frequently interrupted alone time with music, it becomes obvious how solitary an experience sound can be. On the other hand, live music totally counters t

CREATIVE WRITING | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION Written By Adam McGarvey (he/him) | @harpertownnz | Contributing Writer Landscape with the crossing of the Styx - by Joachim Patinir (1520-1525) We had been called to a "potential overdose" - a considerable understatement. I knew before we arrived it would be Zane, our frequent flyer. Zane had clearly overdosed several days prior and was now assuming room temperature. He'd failed to check in with his parole officer, so the Police had b

FEATURE | ISSUE TEN | ISOLATION Written by Mathilde Redamare (they/them) | @MathildeRedamare on YouTube | Contributing Writer Since my family moved from the UK, I had always lived in the same suburb in Ōtautahi. My parents had made an effort to develop the same deep-rooted connections that we had left behind. We got involved with our local church, accepted every invitation to spend time with classmates after school, and we participated in as many clubs as were possible for u

REVIEW | WEB EXCLUSIVE Written by Tashi Donnelly (she/her) | @tashi_rd | Editor Ahead of opening night, I caught up with director Grace Augustine to talk about reimagining Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People for present-day Aotearoa. You can read that interview here. She told me the production was motivated in part by increasing nitrate contamination in our freshwater, and by a desire to create political theatre that asks audiences to think critically about the systems gove