Summer is quickly here, and young people seem to be shifting their focus from heavy topics like "Would you rather be trapped in the woods with a bear or a man?" to lighter topics -- like unhinged home design videos, Candy Salad, and Billie Eilish's new song "Lunch."
Viral Video of the Week: Billie Eilish – Lunch
I'm calling it now: "Lunch" by Billie Eilish is the song of summer. The 22-year-old pop star dropped the video this week, which racked up 16,697,734 plays in its first three days. The "Lunch" video feels like one of the definitions of a generation. It's just Eilish. There is no big concept; not even background. It's just a performer singing her new song, but her look, song, and moment seem to blend into one. The look was a throwback to '90s suburban gangsters—baggy jeans, flip-out snap ball cap, silver grille. The song is a fearless celebration of desire. Eilish sings "It's a desire, not an obsession," and "Do you need a seat? I'll volunteer."
Eilish, who came out as a lesbian to Variety last year, said of the song in a recent interview with Rolling Stone : “I wrote some of it before I did anything with girls, and then Write the rest. I've loved girls my whole life, but I just didn't get it—until last year, I realized I wanted to put my face in a vagina."
What does Reiki mean?
In Gen Z slang, “aura” means “being.” It's kind of like the 70s meaning, but saying someone "has an aura" defines them as mysterious, powerful, and cool. The term was first widely used by Dutch footballer Virgil van Dijk to describe his indescribable charisma, and it stuck in the sports world for a while until the question "Can you be fat and still have an aura?" "this problem. The answer—which mentions people like Tony Soprano—provides some nuance to the common usage of the word. way), similar to, but not the same as, "rizz". Ritz describes more of a "glossy" person, where "aura" seems to be the non-verbal part of cool.
Another aura-related trend that has sprung up recently is TikTok, which features “The Most Auras I’ve Used on Level 1,” in which aura-filled subjects “use” their auras on “lesser” people , often described as a “level 1 liar” or a “low vibrational person.”
Eclectic home design
The "unhinged home design" trend taking TikTok by storm refers to CGI videos that purport to be home design tutorials but quickly devolve into incredibly complex space-saving ideas, or just plain crazy ideas.
The trend started with a TikTok account called @designer_bob, who started posting serious design videos like this a few years ago. They occasionally incorporated some absurd elements, and people began to notice things like children being pushed through walls. Then other accounts, most notably @homedesign369, started posting ridiculous videos, including adding a strangely intense AI narration describing the rooms and the people who built them. Videos like "Building a Bedroom for 100 Kids" began to go viral, with phrases repeated in the video like "galvanized steel" and "eco-friendly wood veneer" becoming buzzwords in the comments section and in the video itself. It doesn't seem like anyone knows if these accounts are run by the same person/people, but they have similarities in style that suggest they may be run by the same person.
New cooking trend: Candy Salad
I don’t know if this is “cooking” exactly, but aspiring chefs on TikTok are making “candy salads.” As you may have guessed, candy salad is made by mixing a variety of different candies in a bowl. This wholesome activity is usually a group activity, with everyone saying their name to the camera before adding their choice of candy to a communal bowl. Some people get a few extras, like making a salad with just green candies for St. Patrick's Day, but for the most part, it's just a few candies thrown into a bowl. Of course, the candies you combine will say something. Commenters on these videos offered their opinions on how different candies complement or conflict with each other. Just like you wouldn't mix sour candy with chocolate unless you're bold enough.
The first breakout star of the candy salad genre was the kid in this video, he was adorable and spoke in that "out of breath kid" way, and he brought two sour kids to the table. But the real draw was that he said his name was "Ander Dingus," which is enough to make you internet famous for 15 minutes.
Why is everyone “looking for someone in finance”?
Speaking of 16 minutes of internet fame: In a recently released video, TikToker Girl On Couch dropped the chorus of a song and asked "Can someone please turn this into a real song? Just For fun." About the way she talked I was looking for someone who worked in finance. Trust Fund. Six point five. "Blue Eyes" attracted a lot of attention. Some added music she requested (another way. Or this.) or used her video as an excuse to brag about being a "financial figure." Or imitate. Some guys use it as a reason to be a jerk. Some guys will say, "I don't want someone in finance." This woman did the math and created a slideshow to explore the likelihood of actually finding a man who meets these strict criteria. In her video, the girl on the couch also hints that she may have written the summer song. She didn't, but she did write the songs for the next few weeks.
