Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Flawed Villain vs. Texas Garden Fairy, Vanilla Mace tooth gem saga + TikTok impersonation glitch

Transcript

MINI SCROLL: Flawed Villain vs. Texas Garden Fairy, Vanilla Mace tooth gem saga + TikTok impersonation glitch · Mini Scroll

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  Hi, everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
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  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
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  through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, the founder of the youth digital
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  media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mindy Scroll,
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  everyone. All right, let's just get in to
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  the stories for today. The first story that I have for
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  you guys took me like actually 4 hours to put all the pieces
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  together this morning. So I hope I compiled it all
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  properly. But if you guys are familiar
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  with this story and there's anything I missed, feel free to
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  leave it in the comments. OK.
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  The first story that I have for you guys, I'm going to be
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  breaking down the TikTok feud between flawed villain and Texas
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  garden fairy. So these are two creators on the
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  like quote UN quote feminist decentering men side of the
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  Internet. I put feminism feminist in
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  quotes because, as you'll see, as we get further into this
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  story, there's a lot of criticism around them labeling
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  themselves that and like if they are truly intersectional
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  feminists, however, they make content on that corner of the
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  Internet. OK, so this whole story actually
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  starts with Cecilia Regina. So Cecilia Regina is one of the
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  OG creators on TikTok to really focus her content on decentering
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  men. She's a bit of a faceless
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  creator. She very rarely if ever shows
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  her face. She does have a profile picture
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  we I know she's a black woman and she's not like anonymous by
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  any means, but she just doesn't really show her face and her
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  content. She's built a following of over
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  450,000 by calling out toxic dating culture and misogyny, and
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  I would say she has played a really big role in building that
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  entire genre on the app. Last month, Cecilia revealed
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  that she was considering quitting TikTok, basically
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  transitioning to YouTube or Patreon full time, mostly
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  because she was so sick of the app suppressing her content and
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  giving her a originality violations when she was seeing
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  so many creators making similar content who are white women,
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  they're thriving and they're not facing the same problems with
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  the app. So one of the creators that is
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  thriving in this space who is a white woman who is not facing
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  the same problems is flawed villain.
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  And flawed villain over the past couple of months has been facing
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  allegations that she basically steals from Cecilia, namely a
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  lot of the terms that Cecilia uses, like she makes up her own
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  kind of like language when talking about certain topics
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  because obviously TikTok suppresses things.
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  It also just helps kind of cultivate that like culty
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  following, right? If you guys all have that same
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  language. So an example of this, Cecilia
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  uses the term humiliation ritual to describe dating men.
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  And obviously like the concept of a humiliation ritual, the
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  term humiliation ritual is not exclusive to Cecilia.
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  She didn't make that up, but she is, according to her followers,
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  the first one to use that as like exclusive exclusively the
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  term when she is referring to like dating men.
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  So when Cecilia announced that she was going to be scaling back
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  on TikTok, people flooded flawed villains comments with
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  accusations of plagiarism and asking her to address how and
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  why she is able to thrive on TikTok while Cecilia is
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  consistently suppressed. Flawed Villain made a fairly
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  defensive series of videos in response, denying that she
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  steals ideas and concepts from Cecilia or other dating slash
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  like decentering men creators, and insisted that her content is
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  simply shown to more people because she posts 10 times a
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  day. And she also said Cecilia is a
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  faceless content creator who doesn't post nearly as often.
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  So like, obviously she's not being pushed out as much.
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  You want the honest truth about why content is shown and why the
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  other content creators aren't being shown?
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  It's based on engagement. OK her page?
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  She's a faceless content creator and she has hell of followers
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  for being a faceless content creator.
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  OK? For you to say that my content
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  is being boosted more because I'm white is kind of fucking
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  ridiculous because I've been showing up on here minimum 10
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  videos a day, OK? This platform is about volume,
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  and this platform is also about a lot of visual cues, visual
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  engagement hooks that get you in the beginning, OK?
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  I just understand some strategies that work for me OK?
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  I should also note here Flawed Villain also mostly considers
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  herself a conservative feminist creator which is completely
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  contradictory as many people have since pointed out out she's
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  admitted to voting for Trump and she has said some really
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  damaging stuff like really racist stuff outside of this
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  whole like Cecilia plagiarism thing.
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  OK so around this time followers of the genre we're asking other
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  white creators who operate in this space like MJ Gray and why
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  the edits to share their take on if Flaud villain was copying
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  Cecilia and Flaud villains general response to this
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  criticism. Sorry, I should note MJ's handle
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  is Texas Garden Fairy so a lot of people will know her by that.
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  Sicilian, why they are my mutuals and we've always had a
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  good relationship and from what I understand, there was
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  inspiration taken from Cecilia and there wasn't any kind of
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  acknowledgement of that. The flawed villain has been
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  growing really fucking fast and I'm super happy for her.
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  I was super happy for her. I even DM D her and I was like
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  I'm really happy to see how quickly you're growing.
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  You know keep at it because her content is very similar to my
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  content and I agree that the message is what's most
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  important. The best thing that could have
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  been done is just acknowledging like, oh, I did, I didn't
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  realize it or maybe you did realize it, but like Cecilia did
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  say that first. She did kind of coin that
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  phrase. And so I'll give her credit.
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  And that really could have been the end of that conversation.
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  The amount of videos that are being posted, as much as that's
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  going to help you grow, you will hit a snag in that because it is
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  coming across as kind of like a crash out.
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  So in the midst of that crash out, there were things that have
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  been said that made me go. That's not the thing about
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  feminism is that it's it has to be intersectional if you are
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  taking inspiration or or ideas from black.
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  Women and not. Crediting them that is not
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  intersectional, that's not going to fly.
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  Since that video, Flawed Villain has been crashing out over MJ's
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  criticisms of her. And as I mentioned, MJ's video
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  is from a month ago, so she has literally been posting
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  consistently about her since then.
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  And she's also been posting about other creators in the
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  space like Cecilia Wyv, calling them all grifters and basically
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  claiming, in other words, that she is the only kind of like
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  valid creator in this space and it is a crash out.
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  OK, like the video she's posting, how many she's posting?
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  But it was really taken up a notch when flawed villain
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  started accusing MJ of being a sex worker because she does
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  sprinkle sprinkle. And then she exposed MJ for
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  dating actor John Levitz. I can unpack about this being
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  the Crimson Chin's glucose daddy.
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  I think where we could start though is that he's AD list
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  celebrity and she still couldn't figure out a way to use him to
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  like get up the ladder. Within 10 months she fumble the
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  bag and he got rid of her and appears like she's trying to
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  make it like a little jokey joke.
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  Being like he's not, that's not what he is, he's a friend.
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  I'm not dumb, I'm all about women getting their bag.
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  But I'm also going to say something if these women aren't
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  actually getting a bag and they just are fucking up the whole
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  game for everybody. Everyone in town knows that
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  she's a ass worker and she doesn't even make that much
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  money. Not surprised.
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  So for anyone that doesn't know, sprinkle, sprinkle is a term
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  popularized by Tik Toker Shira, 7, and it refers to a dating
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  strategy where women prioritize financial stability and like a
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  quote UN quote soft life by seeking older, wealthier
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  partners, often referred to as providers.
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  So while MJ does consider herself like a feminist creator
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  and she talks a lot about those things, she also talks a lot
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  about her dating life and how women should basically just date
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  rich dudes that can take care of them.
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  And I do, I'm going to say like MJ, even YV edits like all of
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  these creators who kind of operate in this space, like they
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  are controversial and they are heavily criticized by the
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  feminist community too. OK.
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  But this back and forth within the TikTok genre has now come to
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  a head after MJ made a video saying her followers, the people
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  that come up to her in public and say like I love your
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  content, I follow. You are all wealthy baddies
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  basically. I'm going to speak my truth for
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  a second. A bum bitch who doesn't have
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  shit going on with her life who's chronically online, has
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  never been a fan of mine. The only.
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  Women who come up to me in public are women who are baddies
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  with a capital BADD i.e. S OK.
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  These women are Victoria's Secret models.
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  It shocks me. I do not like it blows my mind.
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  I'm like, why is this gorgeous woman coming up to me?
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  And it's because they follow my TikTok and much love to them.
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  Baseless. Baseless or and or usually Ant.
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  They are in the top of their field.
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  They are getting money. They are the leader in their.
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  Industry. They are a professional baddie
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  so haters are inevitable, but I've never had a bum bitch come
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  up to me and tell me she's a fan.
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  But I've had many of them hate online.
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  This spun the feud out of this corner of the Internet because
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  was obviously an insanely pick me take and it sparked a bunch
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  of stitches and responses and one creator at unfolding still
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  in particular. I think she hit the nail on the
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  head with her criticism on it. The way she talked about this
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  almost like wraps up this entire feud for us.
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  So here's what she said. The flawed villain and MJ Gray,
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  the Texas Garden Fairy. These are two feminist content
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  creators who have been beefing, going back and forth, and what
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  they have in common is when they receive criticism.
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  Because when you are a content creator, that's what comes with
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  it, OK? When they receive criticism,
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  they start devaluing women, Different groups of women.
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  OK for the flawed villain, it was black women.
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  OK, for MJ Gray, it is women who aren't making money who aren't
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  Victoria's Secret models. So yeah, I do think this entire
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  saga has opened some women's eyes up about these kind of like
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  feminist decentering men creators and kind of side eyeing
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  them, looking at them, thinking like, are they actually
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  authentically practicing what they preach?
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  Should we actually be taking their messages in, or are they
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  sometimes doing more harm than good?
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  And unfortunately, as this kind of all winds down, the person
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  who remains the most hurt by this is Cecilia.
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  All right, the next story that I have for you guys, these story
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  names are unhinged. OK, If you guys are not
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  chronically online, you're going to be like, what is going on?
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  OK, so the next story that I have for you guys is I'm going
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  to be breaking down Vanilla Maze versus Stardust LA Tooth jabs.
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  I told you first we had Flawed Villain versus Texas Garden
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  Fairy, and now we have Vanilla Mace versus Stardust LA Tooth
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  gems. OK, so Vanilla Mace is a
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  streamer slash vlogger who is honestly like in her moment
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  right now. Annabelle is obsessed with her.
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  She is blowing up so much right now.
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  Her big break was really when she did a blind box unboxing and
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  she had a really funny reaction to a prize that she didn't want.
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  But in general, she's really been on the up and up as a
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  vlogger for a while now. OK, so a tooth gem artist named
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  Carolina of Stardust LA did a set of tooth gems on vanilla
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  Mace and she posted the after video.
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  But like there was no content of her doing it.
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  A vanilla Mace and her salon, anything like that.
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  It was just kind of her smiling like her after video.
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  And then she made a video after she posted on TikTok saying she
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  was jealous of like lash artists, brow artists who were
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  getting content in their studio because she didn't get any of
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  vanilla Mace. Have you guys seen those beauty
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  providers working on vanilla? So first the brow artist, then
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  the hair stylist. Well if you haven't, I highly
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  encourage you to watch their video.
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  Super talented. Secondly, they were smart for
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  taking content for their business, but she did end this
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  video saying amazing things about her and it just seems like
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  OK. I guess she's upset that she
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  forgot to film their appointment.
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  It was kind of a weird response, like kind of a weird video to
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  put out there, but whatever. However, Vanilla Mace then went
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  on live stream and she talked about her experience getting
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  tooth gems, and in it she claimed that they never agreed
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  for Vanilla to post anything to promote Stardust LA, while
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  Carolina claims in person that they did agree on this.
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  She's trying to take it to the Internet because she knows that
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  I have followers or I don't know, that just kind of just
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  just doesn't feel right to me. But I have she's taking pictures
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  of me, she's taking videos of me the day of and I sent her a
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  picture of me full beat full glam with the then I got a
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  message. An hour ago.
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  Hi, at this point you've had plenty of time to make the
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  content as part of your end of the trade.
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  Please either post a video crediting me as your tooth gem
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  artist by the 14th, pay me $400.00 for the freestyle set
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  and nose cuffs to my Zell sensor.
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  Zell or I will be posting my experience with you on TikTok.
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  I said hey I'm sorry I'm really confused.
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  Nowhere did we agree to trading content.
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  I thought you just wanted a picture of me to post on your
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  own socials which I sent to you. Even in the messages when you
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  when we booked you never stated anything about a content trade.
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  Whenever anyone asks about my tooth gems I tell everyone it's
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  your work and I've mentioned your username multiple times on
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  my live stream. I respect your work, but not
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  once did you ever say anything about a content exchange, even
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  in person. Carolina was like, my moms
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  watched some of your streams like you've never shouted me
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  out. And then vanilla was like, I
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  have and like sent a few different clips I guess, or
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  examples of times when she had shouted her out since getting
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  the tooth gems. And then it really blew up this
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  week because Carolina made a response saying she is getting
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  death threats because of this live stream and she actually did
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  post some messages that she's been getting and they are wild
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  after receiving death threats after Vanilla Mesa's rant, I'd
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  like to set the record clear there was a lot left out and
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  what she told you guys when Vanilla was here after the
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  service we both came to a verbal agreement that we would trade
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  for content instead of her paying the $400 for the service.
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  The parasocial relationships that people have with creators
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  is so unhinged. Like this is over.
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  Tooth gems, $400.00 tooth gems like let's all chill the fuck
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  out. OK So what happens is it seems
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  like there was a misunderstanding.
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  So they had this verbal agreement in the mind of
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  Carolina, but Vanilla didn't realize that she wanted her to
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  post content. She wanted Vanilla to post
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  content on her own channel, like promoting Stardust LA.
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  So yeah, I really feel like this comes down to the need for a
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  contract. Even if it's a Contra deal,
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  that's something we do if we do a Contra opportunity, like we
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  still get the client to sign something.
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  So that way you don't end up in a situation like this and
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  obviously could escalate even more where somebody's like suing
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  someone else and it just could get so messy.
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  So yeah, it feels like both of them, what they needed was in
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  writing in some type of contract, like you are getting
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  free tooth gems in exchange. You need to post, post.
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  And I feel like it would have all been totally fine.
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  OK, And the last story that I have for you guys is TikTok
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  users are being flagged as impersonating themselves in a
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  mass glitch. I don't know if this has
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  happened to any of you guys or if you've seen any of the videos
• 15:48
  about it. But essentially over the past 24
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  hours, TikTok users all over the world are opening up the app and
• 15:53
  they're getting this notification.
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  It says edit your profile. We found that your account is
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  posing as another person or organization in a confusing way.
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  As a result, your account will not be recommended to others.
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  You can edit your profile or submit an appeal if you believe
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  this was a mistake. And then there's three options.
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  Edit profile, appeal. Learn more.
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  And people are saying that when they click edit profile or
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  appeal, it's just like a blank screen for like several minutes.
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  Like nothing happens. They'll close the app, they'll
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  reopen it and either it will pop up again or they're able to use
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  TikTok normally. But they're like, what the fuck?
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  Like is my TikTok account going to get banned?
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  Am I actually going to be like not recommended any more if
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  these are creators that this is happening to?
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  So thousands of users all across Reddit and TikTok have been
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  reporting this same problem. And as far as I can tell, TikTok
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  hasn't addressed it yet. But I understand like given how
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  volatile TikTok is, like people will open their account and
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  their account will have been like bands like that, like wiped
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  for no reason. They won't be given a valid
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  reason. They won't be given a warning.
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  Like TikTok is so volatile. I don't know if it happens so
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  much anymore, but it like used to happen a lot in the early
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  days. So understandably people are
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  freaking out. In 2024, TikTok set up a system
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  to deal with impersonation accounts where users can now
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  report accounts that they feel are impersonators.
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  So I'm going to assume what happened is like the team that
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  works on this feature, obviously try to do some type of like
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  update or bug fix or whatever, roll something else out.
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  And I guess it caused this mass glitch.
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  So if it's happened to you or if it does happen to you soon, just
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  know it is a glitch. If you are not impersonating
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  someone, then it should be fine. I think I hope and a lot of the
• 17:34
  people that are making videos about this, their videos are
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  still coming up on people's for you pages.
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  So it doesn't seem to be actually impacting if accounts
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  are seen. It's obviously I think the
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  notification itself is just a glitch.
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  Anyways guys, that's it for mini scroll today.
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  Thank you so much for listening. I love you guys.
• 17:50
  Please remember to rate, review and subscribe.
• 17:53
  You guys can buy us a coffee at the Lincoln bio if you want to
• 17:56
  support us and I will talk to you guys tomorrow for a mini
• 17:59
  deep dive. OK, bye.