If you’ve been wondering what Grimes has been up to since she broke up with the richest person in the world, well, wonder no longer. The video for her new song, “Player of Games,” released on Dec. 3, has just dropped, and it’s a lot.

The video is an esoteric mashup of sci-fi, fantasy, and anime imagery features. It sees the singer locked in combat, both virtual and actual, with a sinister-looking armored figure whose helmet bears more than a passing resemblance to the Witch King from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King right down to the complete lack of human features underneath.

The singer, born Claire Elise Boucher, and also known as simply “c” – after the variable for the speed of light- conceptualized the epic video herself. Anton Tammi, who handled photography and art direction on The Weeknd’s After Hours album, directed the video. Grimes debuted the video all the way back in July during a DJ set. It’s presumably the first single from the singer’s upcoming album, Book 1.

As for the content, well, it’s something of a smorgasbord of geeky genre-related influences opening with a fantasy-inspired scene that feels more than a little like something out of JRR Tolkien’s work. Grimes is an obvious fan of The Lord of the Rings; the singer sports several tattoos written in Tolkien’s elvish language, Quenya. After a game of chess with the aforementioned knight, things progress to actual swordplay and then onto out and out lightsaber contact – although the way the singer and her opponent handle said light blades shows they do not operate in the same manner they do in the Star Wars movies. Unless there was a deleted sequence featuring some massive and painful laser scarring.

Perhaps more intriguing is that a great deal of the imagery in the video inverts the common “knight in shining armor” trope. Instead, we have a dark knight in scarlet robes literally playing games with a woman he later fights and ultimately kills, both symbolically and actually. Freud much? No one can say how much the artist’s IRL love life influenced her artistic vision, but with lines like:

“Baby
How can I compare
To the adventure out there? Sail away
To the cold expanse of space”

well, she’s probably not talking about Jake Gyllenhaal.

A family in Pennsylvania is trying to raise awareness about a viral TikTok challenge they believe may have resulted in the death of their ten-year-old daughter. Nylah Anderson attempted to participate in the “Blackout Challenge” while alone in her room, according to reports from ABC 7.

The so-called challenge had users holding their breath until they passed out, each trying to go for longer and longer to try and get their own piece of internet fame. While searching for the challenge now leads to a page informing users to “Learn how to recognize harmful challenges and hoaxes,” this change came too late for Nylah’s family.

“She was a butterfly,” says Tawainna Anderson, the mother of Nylah to ABC 7. “She was everything. She was a happy child. I’m so hurt. This is a pain that won’t go away. It’s at the top of my throat. I am so hurt.

Make sure you check your kids’ phones. You never know what you might find on their phones. You wouldn’t think 10-year-olds would try this. They’re trying because they’re kids and they don’t know better.”

While the challenge originally spawned and found popularity back in the 90s, known by names like “the choke challenge” or “the fainting game,” the blackout challenge recently saw a resurgence on the platform. In June, a 9-year-old Colorado boy named LaTerius Smith Jr. also died in similar circumstances.

A representative from TikTok told the New York Post, “This disturbing ‘challenge,’ which people seem to learn about from sources other than TikTok, long predates our platform and has never been a TikTok trend. We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and would immediately remove related content if found. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family for their tragic loss.”

Our thoughts are with the Anderson family during these challenging times,

All a company could ever hope for is for one of their commercials to go viral online over four years after it was originally released, right? Well, with just how bizarre Cup Noodles got with its previous “Hungry Days” campaign, it’s no surprise that anime fans might have dug up one of the old commercials.

The impressive CG effects and animation in the commercial for the instant ramen product are not only impressive enough to garner over seven-thousand upvotes over on Reddit but also absolutely baffle everyone who watches it. With the intense Aerosmith music in the background, we can’t help but wonder who thought a fully 3D animated apocalypse scene was the best way to sell their products.

Many fans of anime pointed out how the CG used for a commercial was better than some seen in professional productions, wishing the animators for the project could work on something else.

As one user pointed out, the video isn’t even the beginning of just how strangely intense commercials for the company can get over in Japan.

Of course, sometimes they go for a downright wacky angle over anything remotely normal as well as another user shared.

But hey, is it any worse than Arnold Schwarzenegger hand pounding out every single noodle put inside their cups? Yes, another user helped show this was a real commercial back in the 90s.

But seriously, would you watch a full anime of the “Hungry Days” caliber if Cup Noodles were to produce it?

As 2021 comes to a close, it’s only natural to take a look back at the year that has led us to our current moment. Thankfully for content creators, their fellow TikTok users have found a fun new way to commemorate the end of one year and the start of another.

For several years, TikTok has been responsible for dozens of viral trends, and this year TikTokers have upped the ante with a new influx of creative posts that have turned new songs (as well as some old ones) into videos focused on certain aspects of their lives. One of the latest viral trends is known as “16 Missed Calls.”

What is “16 Missed Calls?”

“16 Missed Calls” is actually a track by R&B singer Brent Faiyaz that many TikTokers are using to narrate people’s stunning transformations / glow ups. A typical TikTok video using the song usually shows a throwback picture of the user and then incorporates overlay text to highlight the lyrics “16 missed calls later” before their “glow up” picture or video appears.

Who is Brent Faiyas?

If you’ve never heard of the popular R&B singer Brent Faiyas ⏤ whose real name is Christopher Brent Wood ⏤ he rose to popularity through his songs on SoundCloud in 2014. During his career, the artist has created several hit songs, with his EP “F*ck The World” making it to the US Billboard 200. He’s even snagged himself a feature with Drake on the song “Wasting Time.” Now, capping off the end of 2021, Faiyas’ song “16 Missed Calls” has become a TikTok sensation.

So what exactly is the “16 Missed Calls” trend?

The trend is basically a new way for TikTokers to post their “glow ups,” but with a key difference. It’s purposely aimed as a symbol of spite and revenge. 

As part of the trend, users feature older, less-attractive photos or videos of themselves and add the caption text “You’re not my type” to insinuate that they’ve been rejected by a person (real or imaginary) for not being their type. That’s usually followed up by a black screen with the overlay text that reads “16 missed calls” as a brief intermission before revealing “after” photos or video clips meant to convey the sense that they are much more attractive than they were previously.

How to do the “16 Missed Calls” trend on TikTok

If you’re looking to make some people jealous or simply want to join in the fun, you first have to find some photos or video clips that showcase you in a less glamorous light. Then compile the most current pics and video clips where you are the most “glowed up” for your “after” presentation. Then all you need to do is follow these steps.

• Open the TikTok app and select “16 Missed Calls” from TikTok’s music library or download the song to your Sounds.
• Select a photo or video from the gallery you wish to add first by using the slideshow effect available on the Effects tab.
• After selecting your sideshow, follow them up with a “16 Missed Calls” image screen and add text that you can get to appear in the rhythm of the “16 Missed Calls” verse. 
• Then incorporate your glow-up pictures into another slideshow and set it to the Brent Faiyas track. 

You can also use a video editing app like InShot. Basically, all you have to do is:

• Open the Inshot Video Editor and create a new project in 9:16 ratio. Then import the first photo and 3 to 5 images you need to add at last. Also, you need to add “16 Missed Calls” to the timeline as well.
• After that, adjust the images according to the song lines. Adjust the first photo duration to 0.3 seconds and type “Sorry, you’re not my type” using the typing tool. You can add the lyrics as well without any trouble. Then you just have to adjust the duration of the photos to 0.2 seconds in your next slideshow and you’re done.

There you have it! Now you’re ready to show all the haters how much you’ve grown since the last time they saw you. But remember, this is supposed to be friendly fun, so try not to take it too seriously. Whether you’ve experienced an actual glow up or not, we’re all beautiful, and that validation needn’t come from someone else.