1. Life imitates Sims.

We've all lived entire lives in The Sims: built dream homes we could never afford, pursued careers we abandoned in real life, fell in love with pixelated neighbors who never ghosted us. For 25 years, the game has been less about following rules and more about creating stories that are uniquely, beautifully yours. Now EA and Droga5 have taken that storytelling spirit and turned it into something tangible: an actual romance novel. When The Sims launched their fairy-themed "Enchanted by Nature" expansion, they published "Foraging For Desire" on Wattpad. But the story stopped mid-climax, challenging players to create their own endings by playing through the expansion. And the grand prize was co-authorship of a real, published book.

A superfan won with an ending where the hero rises to rule alongside Mother Nature, and their story now lives in a fabulous 120-page collector's edition complete with original oil paintings, lunar phase symbols tracking the narrative arc, and typography that literally explodes during emotional peaks. It's the kind of campaign that understands what The Sims has always been - not just a game, but a collaborative storytelling engine where the community's creativity is the real magic.

2. When a joke becomes real.

Emily Zugay has built a cult following on TikTok by taking beloved brand logos and "fixing" them with the design sensibility of a middle schooler who just discovered clip art. Her deadpan redesigns are gloriously terrible - think Comic Sans, wonky proportions, and a complete disregard for everything designers hold sacred. When she turned her attention to Axe in July, posting a brutally simple white can with a lone clip art axe graphic, declaring the brand "wasn't made for boys in middle school locker rooms - it was made for men," the post exploded to 5 million views. Most brands would nervously laugh and move on. Axe did something smarter: they made it real.

Within 24 hours, Axe mocked up an actual can with Zugay's design, appointed her as their fake "Big Boss," and put the limited-edition product on Walmart's website. Axe gets that Gen Z doesn't want polished marketing. They want brands that feel like they're in on the joke, co-created by the same absurdist internet culture they live in. Sometimes the best rebrand isn't aspirational or sleek. Sometimes it's just clip art on a white can, made real because the internet demanded it.

3. The ancient art of looking terrible.

Every September in Egremont, a small town in England's Lake District, people stick their heads through horse collars and contort their faces into the most grotesque expressions humanly possible as a competitive sport. It's called gurning, and it's been a tradition since 1267. The rules of this competition are beautifully simple: make the ugliest face you can without using your hands, artificial aids, or excessive makeup. You are, however, encouraged to thrash around onstage and make wild, animal-like noises. The reigning women's champion, Claire Lister, has won nine times and never practices. Missing teeth is considered an advantage.

What makes gurning so perfect is its complete rejection of everything we're told matters about appearances. In a world obsessed with filters, perfect angles, and looking effortlessly beautiful online, here's a centuries-old tradition that celebrates the opposite: flexibility, creativity, and a complete lack of self-consciousness. Competitors range from 11-year-old Kendall Lister (this year's junior champion, following in her mother's footsteps) to 58-year-old Adrian Zivelonghi, who got into gurning after deciding the world record for longest ear hair was too much commitment. Sometimes the most delightfully human traditions are the ones that remind us looking ridiculous in front of strangers can be deeply, genuinely fun.