Happy Monday!

I went to a chronically online Halloween party this weekend and dressed as a Swagapino. What better way to celebrate Filipino fall and the return of swag? I won a “???” award (what an honor!) for my outfit, which you can see here.

ICYMI, we chatted with the originator of the Regina George x Rodrick Heffley crackship last week. You can check it out here. 

Today, a viral crypto rapper convicted of money laundering is released from prison, body image discourse stemming from a Love Island USA star, Nailong fever, and more. Plus, a playlist for people who want to get spooky and sexy.

Do you remember Razzlekhan, the cringe rapping girlboss who went to prison for laundering billions in crypto? Well, she was just released early from federal prison and shared a message to fans on X.

If you don’t remember Razzlekhan, whose real name is Heather Morgan, here’s the TL;DR. A few years ago, Morgan went viral for her crypto rap videos after she and her husband Ilya Lichtenstein were arrested for allegedly laundering $4.5 billion of bitcoin from a 2016 hack targeting cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. The rapper was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after she and her husband pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in 2023. Her husband received a five year sentence and remains incarcerated. 

Morgan began her sentence on Feb. 4 and was recently released. She posted a video to X thanking her fans and President Donald Trump for their support. 

“I wanna give a shout out to Papa Trump for making my 18 month sentence shorter,” she said in the post. “So razzle-fucking-dazzle. Hello world, let’s have some fun and get weird.”

Meanwhile, a movie based on the couple called Dutch and Razzlekhan is reportedly happening, although filming hasn’t begun yet.  

Content warning: This section discusses body image, body checking, and eating disorders. Skip to the next headline if you’d prefer not to read this!

Love Island USA season seven star Olandria Carthen has inadvertently created her own body checking social media challenge after posting a video showing how a pair of sunglasses can fit around her waist.

“I’ve been summoned,” Carthen wrote in her caption, referencing a trend of women showing off their tiny waists set to the song “Bark Like You Want It” by Sir-Mix-a-Lot.

Others have seen Carthen’s video, which received over 11 million views in just a day, and have started doing the “Olandria Challenge.” These creators are also attempting to fit a pair of sunglasses around their waists. One post (from a very slim woman!) showed the glasses stretching and had the caption “lemme go do pilates or something.” 

I’ll admit that I saw Carthen’s video and didn’t think twice about it. She is known for her beauty, so it’s not unusual for her to go viral. Also, thinspo content has become ubiquitous online at this point that sometimes you barely register it. It is very easy to see this and feel like it’s simply the norm right now. However, what I see in the comments is a cause for concern. The top comments are from people saying they need to stop eating or remarking on how big they are compared to her. 

I’m always hesitant to comment on other people’s bodies because I think that the point can get lost very quickly. To be clear, this is not necessarily a problem with Carthen, who has acknowledged that her body type is genetic and said on a TikTok Live last night that she “loves all body types.” This trend and discourse are byproducts of our current culture’s obsession with skinniness. 

Beyond this trend, weight loss ads are everywhere and everyone seems to be losing weight. It is hard not to feel affected by all of this messaging. We’re all feeling it in some way, but not talking about it. Only recently have I started discussing with friends about how hard it is to ignore, and many have said the same. There is a pressure to be absurdly thin, especially with the rise of weight loss drugs like Ozempic that seemingly make it easy. 

Some people have brought up their concerns with Carthen’s post on Twitter, saying it is promoting a harmful ideal and fueling body checking. Many of those posts have received backlash because fans think that criticism toward Carthen’s TikTok is reaching, overreacting, or overly sensitive. (To be fair, Love Island USA Twitter is pretty brutal.) However, looking at comments praising Carthen’s measurements and saying they’ll engage in disordered eating to get them, critics have some points — even if this response was not her intention.

Last week, my X feed was suddenly inundated with a gif of a round, orange creature wearing baggy clothes and gyrating. “Who is this little guy?” I wondered. I didn’t even know what to look up to find out, so I waited until the explanation came to me — as it typically does, eventually.

He’s Nailong and he’s a mischievous milk dragon that originated on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. According to Know Your Meme, he started as a viral social media character in 2020 and has since been licensed for longer cartoons, toys, and theme parks.  

One TikTok user who visited China over the summer had shared a bit more of Nailong’s lore to Western audiences. While Nailong has become a beloved figure on X and TikTok, she explained that Nailong is often manhandled in Douyin videos because he is known for getting into trouble. She also shared some of her Nailong plushies, which are apparently not available in the U.S. This is my formal petition to phase out Labubus and get demand going for Nailong blind boxes. Somebody make this happen!

Every Monday letter gets a playlist. I made a ”hot n evil” playlist a couple years ago because sinister hot girl music is my favorite genre. For Halloween, I made a shorter, updated version of it for this newsletter. Happy spooky season to all my baddies!

In this week’s playlist:

Other things I want to share with you.