'This looks better IRL' follows young people in this contemporary subculture, largely influenced by Asian media and pop culture, full of community spirit, individuality and personal challenges, as they prepare for and attend cosplay conventions in Western Europe. Cosplay is a form of performance art in which participants use costumes and accessories to portray a particular character from the world of comics, anime, and manga. This community includes a large proportion of neurodivergent people...

A phantom island is an island whose existence has been accepted for a certain period of time (sometimes centuries) and has been mentioned on maps, but which has subsequently been removed because it has been proven not to be real. There are many possible explanations for these geographical fictions: geopolitical and economic interests, cartographic copyrights, rumours, memes, hoaxes, legends, and more. These phantom islands have never physically existed, but they have had a real impact on the ...

The complex history and contested borders that shaped the countries of former Yugoslavia provide the stage on which Croatian-born Lana Mesic´ (NL) weaves new, personal narratives, examining the role and meaning of the enemy image in her fragmented childhood and how this history echoes upon this day. In light of recent political developments in Europe, the book encourages us to reflect on our own experiences. By bringing these to light, it helps to counter the nationalist narratives that domi...