【Series Archives】

You'd be Series Archivesforgiven if you were confused by TikTokkers performatively sobbing over the phrase "I peeled my orange today."

That is what has been happening this week, and it raises questions with folks unfamiliar with the source material. Questions like Huh?, What?, andWhy is peeling an orange sad?Well, after a quick investigation, the answer became clear: Folks are referencing a TikTok slideshow detailing (an almost assuredly fictional) breakup.

The TikTok in question, posted by @things.i.cant.sen has racked up more than 6 million views. It's a slideshow detailing the story of a breakup between two people named Charlotte and Em. Charlotte had their heart broken by Em, who is doing their best to comfort their ex. It's a story about young love — there are talks of going off to college — and how to know if someone is your soulmate.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

During the conversation, Charlotte mentions that she missed the way Em would peel their oranges for them — Charlotte gets juice everywhere trying to do it herself. The final text, from Charlotte to Em, reads "I peeled my orange today." It is green instead of blue.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

There's the final line. Credit: Screenshots: TikTok / @things.i.cant.sen

So, there you have it. TikTok is reacting to this slideshow and that final text, which indicates that Charlotte is starting to get over Em and that Em might've blocked Charlotte since the text went green.

Now, could this be a real text conversation? Sure. It's definitely meant to read that way. There is even one text with a name blocked out, apparently for anonymity. But this is the internet we're talking about, and the account, @things.i.cant.sen, frequently posts poetry and "conversations" between couples. The text conversation itself also leans saccharine and overly expository. In other words, it reads like how someone might write a text conversation but not how someone would have a text conversation.

SEE ALSO: TikTokkers are calling out their exes using Taylor Swift's 'Now That We Don't Talk'

Regardless, TikTok has latched onto it. Lots of folks posted emotional reactions on TikTok. Typically, these posts involve making a very sad face or sobbing with the text, "I peeled my orange today." Other users wondered what the hell was going on with TikTok and peeling oranges.

---

Related Stories

---

• This TikTok trend parodies famous songs with cringe Gen Z slang
• Tyla, the singer behind the 'Water' dance, shows you how to do the viral TikTok trend
• TikTok's hottest trend? Bed bug hysteria.
• TikTok has an obsession with testing friends and partners — and it needs to stop
• TikTokkers say their friends aren't texting back. Why?

It makes sense this slideshow would go viral. Young people use TikTok, and young love is hard. It's filled with big emotions, so it makes sense a breakup story would take off on the app. To my perhaps jaded eyes — if the slideshow is indeed fictional — it's the sort of schmaltzy schlock you often get with these sorts of TikToks or Tumblr posts. It's designed to hit you with a cartoon hammer labeled "SAD."

That being said, the "I peeled my orange today" bit is a nice touch that does elevate the story. Love often comes down to the smaller acts — the little things that last in your mind — and it's no wonder TikTok has latched on to that ending. So if you see someone crying over peeled oranges, at least now you get it.

Topics TikTok

• Shopping
• Life
• Digital Culture
• Games
• Social Good
• Entertainment
• Tech
• Science

• Gods of War
• The Only Untranslatable American Writer by Brian Evenson
• Goatherd, Storyteller, Master by Brian Ransom
• Ghosts by Jill Talbot
• Your 'wrong person' texts may be linked to Myanmar warlord
• From the Notebooks of John Cage by The Paris Review
• Le Guin’s Subversive Imagination by Michael Chabon
• Sum Effects by Peggy Shinner
• Inside the Murky Process of Getting Games on Steam
• No, Burlington wasn't the most popular Spotify Wrapped sound town

• LEGO will start making some of its toys from plant
• How to watch Lisa Frankenstein: Streaming deals, release date
• Amazon spring cleaning deal: Get up to 44% off
• Elon Musk's X tests 'adult content' label for X
• How to take a screenshot on a Mac
• Lucky flight catches glimpse of SpaceX launch from the air
• 12,000 SpaceX Starlink satellites could pose a space debris problem
• Brand new black hole image will blow your mind
• Most King Penguins may either starve or relocate as the oceans warm
• Israel reportedly using facial recognition and Google Photos to conduct mass surveillance in Gaza

• SpaceX's Starlink will provide free satellite internet to families in Texas school district
• Redefining the Black Mountain Poets by Jonathan C. Creasy
• Peloton Bike deal: save $350 at Amazon
• The 10 weirdest movie and TV trends of 2023
• A Typical Wall Street Republican
• Just Enjoy Every Fucking Blessed Breath by Rob Tannenbaum
• Entering Infinity with Yayoi Kusama by The Paris Review
• Redux: So Much Loneliness in That Gold by The Paris Review
• How to Squeeze the Most Out of Your iPhone's Battery
• The best Netflix movies of 2023

• Best IPL deal: Save $80 on Braun IPL Silk·Expert
• Le Guin’s Subversive Imagination by Michael Chabon
• Fantasy Is the Ultimate Queer Cliché: An Interview with Carmen Maria Machado by Noor Qasim
• No, Burlington wasn't the most popular Spotify Wrapped sound town
• Best Apple deal: Save $19 on AirTag 4
• Fantasy Is the Ultimate Queer Cliché: An Interview with Carmen Maria Machado by Noor Qasim
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for December 16
• Feminize Your Canon: Iris Origo by Lauren Kane
• The State of PC Gaming in 2016
• Redux: One Empty Seat by The Paris Review