Arts & Entertainment
Single man builds boyfriend out of wine boxes
the artist was inspired to work on the project after a bad breakup

Michael James Schneider and his wine box boyfriend (Photo courtesy of Twitter)
Michael James Schneider, an artist and photographer from Portland, Oregon, found himself at a loss after a bad breakup in 2015. He decided to channel his creativity into building himself a boyfriend made of wine boxes.
“A couple of years ago I had a rough breakup and self-medicated through wine,” Schneider, 44, told BuzzFeed News. “Though I’m over the breakup now (and the copious consumption) I always thought it would be sad, funny, and a little sweet to make a companion from the empty cartons left over.”
Schneider set up photo shoots for himself and his wine box boyfriend doing activities that other couples do such as cooking together, grocery shopping and reading the newspaper. He posts the photos online which have received thousands of likes.
i do not have a boyfriend so i made one out of boxes of wine pic.twitter.com/1r6QKtUbvz
— BLCKSMTH (@BLCKSMTHdesign) February 26, 2018
He landed his first gallery show and hopes to keep adding to the wine box boyfriend series.
“I think I’ll make it a regular series I revisit from time to time to see how the wine box boyfriend and I’s relationship is progressing,” Schneider says.
Online Culture
Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer
Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters
Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.
According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.
The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.
According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.
The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.
According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”
According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.
At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.
The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.
The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.
Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.
At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.
Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.
Photos
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LGBTQ celebration held at Turner Pavilion in Harrisonburg, Va.
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