Welcome back to “Hot or Not!” This column is our official unofficial guide to
pop culture, the trends we see on campus, around Seattle, and through the
screens of our phones. With a little help from our poll responding friends,
“Tatler” has assembled a list of everything hot, and everything not.

HOT

Aura

Gen Z males on TikTok are linguistically very interesting! One of my favorite examples of this is “aura” (as opposed to my least favorite examples, of which there are many…) which is essentially just your personality and how you present yourself to other people. Guys on TikTok often point to examples like Carti, Yeat, Duke Dennis, and TikTok user Chris Heyn Jr. but honestly, aura is subjective. My friend and I love joking about “aura maxing,” where this TikToker was giving tips to guys seeking to increase the amount of their aura by developing interests, pursuing hobbies, and basically becoming a sentient being for the first time ever. 

Quora/Reddit

Paige Bueckers (and other NCAAW faves Kate Martin, Caitlin Clark, Nika Muhl) 

If you aren’t living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Caitlin Clark, former Iowa guard, current Indiana Fever player, and maybe the greatest female college basketball player of all time. But this year’s Women’s March Madness hasn’t just been about Clark. My friends and I have FYPs flooded with edits of UCONN Point Guard Paige Bueckers, with the occasional edit of former Iowa player Kate Martin (my personal favorite!), future Seattle Storm Nika Muhl, and Chicago Sky draft pick Angel Reese. 

Utah fit checks

Formula 1 

If you haven’t heard of Formula 1, or at least the Netflix show “Drive to Survive,” you’re really missing out. Whether watching for the 20 best open-wheel single-seater racers in the world or waiting for your favorite drivers to interact with each other and inevitably get edited on TikTok to a song that with romantic undertones, Formula 1 is never not entertaining, even when two-time champion Max Verstappen is winning almost every single race.

Brain rot 

You may have seen the words brain rot on TikTok recently, and wondered how exactly a person might develop it. Naturally, brain rot manifests itself on a case-by-case basis, but of course there are still optimal versions. If you want the best kind of brain rot, I’d recommend the Youtube channels Emergency Intercom (hosted by Enya Umanzor and Drew Phillips, also available on Spotify/Apple Music/wherever else you listen to podcasts) and Slushy Noobz. Sometimes, while listening, you may find your brain cells depleting at rates more rapid than what was previously thought possible. But it’s hard work to be funny.

Looksmaxxing.ai

NOT

Microtrend final boss(es)

“What are WE wearing this summer?” I don’t know! “Me who just bought new bikinis seeing that tankinis are in” What will you ever do???? The obvious conclusion to be reached with both of these questions is just wear what you want to wear or even just wear what you already have, but the Microtrend Final Bosses seem to avoid it like the plague.

If you want to be truly chic this summer, Hot or Not recommends galaxy tights, trucker hats, vintage Brandy Hellville diaper butt sweats, and graphic tees with cringe one-liners like “But first, coffee!” or “I paused my game to be here.” Authenticity and free thinking are in for 2024!!!

Think Pieces 

Picking sides

As a fan of Kendrick, Metro Boomin, and Drake, the past few weeks have been very difficult times for me. Even the implication that Travis Scott might’ve known about the Drake diss or the harsh reality that we may never hear 21 Savage on Metro Boomin’s production again were hard pills to swallow. But this beef is a lot more fun when you don’t pick a side. Kendrick’s verse was insane and Drake came through with “Push Ups,” especially the line “Metro, shut your ho a** up and make some drums, n****”

“Karma” by Jojo Siwa

After all this time, Jojo Siwa is finally “all grown-up.” Unfortunately, we have to see it happen. On April 5, Siwa dropped what some would call the worst song of all time, “Karma,” which’s highlights include the lyrics “I was a bad girl / I did some bad things” and “Karma’s a b****h, I should’ve known better / If I had a wish, I would’ve never effed around.” Probably worse than the lyrics was Siwa’s insistence that dropping this song was on par with Miley Cyrus’ shift from Disney child star to “Wrecking Ball” or that this song was the pinnacle of “gay pop.” For some real gay pop, stream “Karma’s a B**ch” by Brit Smith !

TikTok rizz party lore

The lore behind some random Sweet Sixteen has spread like a plague over the For You Page, even reaching Instagram reels, and more impressively YouTube Shorts. With partygoers given names like group leader (also known as Blue Tie), Turkish Quandale Dingle (TQD), and Tomato, the IRL party has also become a fictionalized storyline where people make edits shipping BlueDingle (Blue Tie and TQD) or analyze TQD’s experience at the party as a POC (the person behind TQD is just Italian) wanting to assimilate with his white friends to the lyrics of Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl.” But now that