I Have One Daughter, Tea Dating Advice, and The Fantastic Four

1. Memes about Ozzy Osbourne dying and being reincarnated as a baby named Aquaman started trending.
2. Twitch streamer Ninja shared his Christian faith with 19 million followers.
3. Labubu plushies are now luxury items, selling for up to $170,000.
4. The book series Fourth Wing will be adapted into an Amazon TV show.
5. “Proximity posting” is the new social media flex.

But here’s what we’re focused on this week:

Slang of the Week – “Chopped”

Something messy, ugly, sloppy, or unattractive. Using “chopped” as an adjective is the Gen Z equivalent of something looking “busted” or “beat.” It can be used as an insult to describe a person, but it can also describe a thing that was poorly executed or just didn’t turn out the way you hoped it would. (Ex: “I’m so glad he’s not my boyfriend anymore—he’s looking chopped.” )

And now for our three conversations…

1. Not Adding Up

What it is: A creator named Luke Holloway takes braindead dating app exchanges and turns them into musical skits starring him (in a sweater) opposite him (in a wig). One of the skits, about a man who doesn’t seem to understand math, has turned into a trend of its own, with 70,000 other users using the sound.

Why it’s trending: “I Have One Daughter” has all the ingredients you need for a viral TikTok sound. The original audio is catchy enough to be remembered after just one listen, and the lyrics make the listener feel like they are in on a very silly, very simplistic, but hard not to join in on, joke. Other TikTokers have been using the sound to illustrate other stupid exchanges specific to their own lives. (Like one young woman from Johannesburg, South Africa, who acts out being asked if she rode lions to school.) “I have one daughter” as a response has quickly become shorthand for, “Why would you ask me that question?”

Continue the conversation: What’s the latest song to get stuck in your head?

2. Spilling the Tea

What it is: A social media app called Tea Dating Advice (or just “Tea”), designed to be a platform where women could warn each other about specific men, was hacked this week.

How it went down: Tea’s creator, Sean Cook, described watching his mother’s “terrifying experience with online dating,” which included her being catfished and unknowingly dating men with criminal records. Cook says he created this app as a way women could verify information about men before going out with them. Some men, however, became concerned that they were being wrongfully defamed on the women-only app with no way to defend themselves. As retaliation, a group of hackers on the anonymous forum 4Chan stole and began posting images and personal information of women who used the app. The whole debacle creates numerous opportunities for conversation, including around questions like “What should accountability look like in an online world?” “Where’s the line between a healthy warning and gossip?” and “How can we know whether meeting someone online is safe?”

Continue the conversation: Have you heard anything about the Tea app? What do you think about it?

3. Actually, It Was Fantastic

What it is: Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps brings the “first family” of superheroes into the MCU with a bold 1960s retro-futuristic world and cosmic stakes.

Why it hits home: In a cinematic universe packed with solo heroes, Fantastic Four reminds us that the greatest superpower isn’t flight or fire, it’s family. Between cosmic battles, the film lingers on moments of connection. There’s a Sunday dinner, cooking together in the kitchen, quiet scenes showing Reed and Sue as husband and wife, Johnny as Sue’s younger brother, and Ben as Reed’s lifelong best friend. The movie’s muted blue color palette and comic-inspired retro aesthetic feel warm and breathable, more like matching family pajamas than battle armor. Even the violence feels cartoonish, with viewers saying the fight scenes are milder than any superhero movie in recent memory. Michael Giacchino’s nostalgic and heroic score ties it all together, making this story feel both classic and new. When Galactus threatens to destroy Earth unless Sue and Reed surrender their newborn, the team must choose how far they’re willing to go to protect both their family and their home. It’s a reminder that sometimes, saving the world doesn’t start on the battlefield—it starts around the table.

When my kids were younger, life was a lot louder. Forts in the living room, Nerf battles in the hallway, and dinners around the table most nights all helped to build the trust, laughter, and connection that shaped who we are as a family.

With older kids, parenting looks different. Sometimes, I lie awake imagining what could go wrong for them, and for us. I often pray over dangers I see, turning over (and over) their choices in my mind, and asking God for wisdom to guide them through what’s ahead.

Watching Fantastic Four: First Steps, I saw that invisible weight that Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) carried. At one point, Sue suspects Reed is considering the unthinkable: handing their baby over to Galactus. Instead of denying it, Reed admits that part of his role as a husband and father is to imagine worst-case scenarios, and even plan for them, so his family doesn’t have to carry that fear. It’s a moment that reveals the unseen mental load of love—how much we quietly hold in our minds to protect the ones we love.

Later, when the team feels hopeless, Reed recalls a principle from Archimedes, the ancient Greek mathematician. He walks them through an equation about force and leverage, then says: “Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I will move the earth.”

Archimedes discovered that a small, well-placed force can move something massive. In the film, that principle becomes their only hope. The Fantastic Four can’t overpower Galactus. But with the right lever, they can move what seems unmovable.

Parenting can feel like that, too. The challenges can feel cosmic, far too big to handle. Yet God doesn’t ask us to summon super strength. He asks us to be faithful in the small things: sharing a meal, whispering a prayer, asking a question. These are the levers that, in His hands, can move worlds.

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In James 1:5, we are offered wisdom for every impossible choice: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” So as you bear the heavy weight of the broken world for your family, remember that with God, you already have the levers you need to help shape your family’s future.

For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the meantime, here are three questions to spark conversation with your teens:

PS: Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!