It’s Friday and Pizza Hut has a serious question for TikTok viewers: is that whole “girl math” trend still a thing?

DICK MOVE, BRO

Elon Musk tried to troll Wikipedia on X. Smosh turned his joke into a $32 shirt.

Earlier this week, Elon Musk decided to take a dig at Wikipedia by making a “Dickipedia” joke on X. The only thing he failed to consider: Dickipedia.com already exists, and it just so happens to be owned by Smosh.

The story of that acquisition takes us back in time to 2018.

Five years ago, the comedy hub’s partner network, Defy Media, went belly up and liquidated its assets via a sale. Smosh co-founders Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla saw an opportunity to purchase a few domain names owned by Defy—and according to Hecox, there were “a bunch of really gross ones.” Dickipedia.com was one of the URLs on that list.

If it wasn’t for Musk, that domain acquisition may never have amounted to more than a whimsical purchase. But thanks to the X owner’s willingness to bet $1 billion that Wikipedia wouldn’t change its name to Dickipedia, Smosh’s co-founders now have some very desirable merch on their hands. The comedy hub has developed its own line of official Dickipedia shirts, which fans can order for $32 apiece at Dickipedia.com (a URL that currently redirects to the Smosh store).

Each purchase includes a $5 donation to the Wikimedia Foundation—a financial contribution Musk would probably say “isn’t needed to operate Wikipedia.”

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Ninja’s latest Twitch series will follow him as he chooses a soccer team to support. The show’s sponsor: Camarena Tequila. (Tubefilter)

• If you’ve ever wondered how much it costs to be Apple’s default search engine, the answer is apparently “around $18 billion”—and Google is the one paying it. (The Verge)
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• Threads has rolled out two new features on its mobile app: polls and gifs. (Gizmodo)
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• Apple’s Shazam app can now recommend concerts to users based on location. (The Verge)

DATA • ON THE RISE 📈

The planets didn’t just align for this creator—they changed his entire life

Before we dive into this particular story, let’s rewind to 2019. It was the year that everything changed for a creator named Keats—and it all began with a shower and a coping mechanism.

The creator was going through it.

Mercury was in retrograde, Keats’ house had just flooded, and he was in the shower trying not to spiral. Humor had always been his go-to coping mechanism, so the creator imagined a funny scenario where Mercury wasn’t the only celestial body acting up. Instead, all of the planets were “bickering and bantering and fighting” amongst themselves.

From there, Keats’ viral Planets series was born.

By the next morning, Keats’ first Planets video had generated over a million views on TikTok, and viewers were already clamoring for more. They were in luck: with years of music, IT, and YouTube experience under his belt, the creator already had everything he needed to produce an epic video series.

An epic 25-part video series, which Keats has since expanded into his own merch line and an “independent self-filmed, edited, scored TV miniseries” on YouTube. To find out more about the development of Planets—and Keats’ equally impressive adventures in streaming and music—check out our full interview with him here.

THE DREAM FRONTIER

One of TikTok’s favorite webcomic writers is joining forces with MacMillan

Tony Weaver Jr.’s isekai fantasy manga has it all: a mysterious MMORPG competition, a diverse ensemble cast, and a major book deal. The Dream Frontier is one of the latest titles to be picked up by First Second Books, Macmillan‘s graphic novel imprint.

That publishing agreement is only half of Weaver’s partnership with First Second Books. The author-slash-TikToker is also building a studio within the imprint in order to “bring the book to fruition.” Artist Irene Yeom is a big part of that process; according to Weaver, the illustrator, colorist, and inker has already proven to be an invaluable creative partner on the series.

The Dream Frontier is slated for publication in 2026, when readers will have a chance to get to know the book’s 14-year-old hero—Sygnus—and follow along as he encounters a virtual reality competition with a $100 million prize.

Of course, fans don’t have to wait three years to devour one of Weaver’s literary creations.

The TikTok star is also the creator of and lead writer on The UnCommons (aka the flagship IP of his media company, Weird Enough Productions) and will release another graphic novel series, Weirdo, with First Second in 2024 or 2025.

WATCH THIS 📺

Josh Richards’ new sketch series is all that and a bag of chips

Influencer and one-time Sway House member Josh Richards is reminding viewers to Read The Room with a brand-new sketch series. The first episode won’t drop until November 7, but the show’s official trailer promises plenty of laughs—plus a concerning amount of fake facial hair and Fritos.

In addition to all those bags of chips, Read The Room will feature celebs like creator Indiana Massara, musician Oliver Tree, NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry, and WWE superstar Drew McIntyre. Check out the trailer here.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.