is your candida off?
or is the internet just trying to sell you stuff again?
Hi, it’s Ashe - here to be kinda toxic af about generative AI. The past week has been nothing but discourse on AI-generated “art”, all thanks to the Studio Ghibli trend. The one where people willingly handed over their personal photos to OpenAI, giving the company a neat little loophole to train its models on real faces in exchange for some mediocre-at-best Ghibli-esque sketches.
“This makes art more accessible”? More than a pencil and paper? More than cave walls? This is not accessibility, this is outsourcing creativity, and avoiding the effort it takes to actually create something. Disabled artists exist and create without AI.
Aside from the environmental impact and the whole stealing from artists thing that people clearly don’t care about - Miyazaki would absolutely hate this. His ethos, his hand-drawn craftsmanship, his public disdain for AI art? All discarded for a bland, soulless render to post on social media.
And then, of course, political entities added to the trend some messed up, fascist-era propaganda. Simply lovely.
It’s infuriating that for so many people engaging in this trend, Ghibli is just an aesthetic - nothing more. No real engagement with the films, their themes, or their artistry. Just another thing to consume.
Oh, I’ve used GenAI too - for debugging code, proofreading - because academia now treats ChatGPT like it’s office hours.
GenAI is a tool - so is a crowbar, but you’d be pissed if I used one to steal your car and hit you with it cause I was too lazy to walk. Sometimes one can be using tools for evil. Some artists do use AI-tools for tedious tasks like animation tracking, enhancing resolution. But one would be delusional to say that the ‘Ghibli trend’ was using GenAI as tool for artists in a similar vein.
If you have 15 minutes, read AI: The New Aesthetics of Fascism.
🗞️News
Since y’all like Studio Ghibli so much - consider watching the 4k re-release of Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX.
The Beatles movie is happening and the cast is full of internet’s boyfriends.
Nintendo Direct 2025 just dropped - Switch 2 and a bunch of amazing games to look forward to. Read IGN’s breakdown.
Black Mirror Season 7 out April 10th.
Sunrise on the Reaping movie trailer out - ready to be sat in theatre November 20, 2026. Ashe thinks the book was “devastating amazing”.
This is kind of scary: H&M announced it will create AI “twins” of their models for social media posts. With their permission.
Rimowa selling busted, worn out suitcases. Because nothing says “status” like luggage that looks emotionally wrecked by Schipol.
We’re not done with football fashion yet: Acne Studios' & Kappa Collab
🧂Trends
Decaf
For those not fully sold on matcha but still wary of anything that spikes anxiety or messes with the one thing we all obsess over—sleep—decaf is becoming the go-to. The Head Barista at Dak Coffee Roasters confirms the shift—not only are more customers asking for it, but the quality has seriously improved. The old myth about decaf being loaded with harsh chemicals is out.
Cow’s milk
On the topic of coffee, it looks like we’re back to the regular milk cappuccino. Blame the rising panic over processed foods like oat milk, and the fact that dairy still brings the goods—protein, calcium, all the essentials to keep those bones in check for the marathons we’ve committed to. Case in point: UK grocery chain Waitrose saw sales of whole milk and full-fat yogurt climb, with searches for “full-fat milk” a spiking 417% in February.
Podcast inspo🎧: Monocle’s The Menu just dropped a solid episode on the renaissance of dairy.
The scare of balding
Apart from not getting enough protein, another thing keeping us wide awake on those overcaffeinated days—we’re convinced we’re balding. And no, it’s not just men. Scalp health has taken center stage, with hair-loss influencers feeding us hair-growth gummies and scalp scrubs. The cosmetics brand Lush alone reported a 264% jump in sales of their scalp care products. So before you start poking at your roots or booking a flight to Istanbul (sending all the strength to our Turkish friends in these fraught times!), maybe go touch some grass first.
InZoi
The Nintendo Switch release isn’t the only thing on the gamers’ radar - InZoi just dropped in early access. A life sim in the vein of The Sims, InZoi leans heavily into hyper-realistic visuals and detailed simulation, maybe not as silly goofy as the Sims.
Of course, no early access game is complete without its fair share of bugs. Players quickly discovered a bug that lets them run over and, uh, kill children. It was quickly patched up; we got a children killing sim before GTA 6.
Sewing
Emma Chamberlain, the final boss of trendsetting, recently posted a vlog of herself sewing. #Sewing is among such there with #summerfashion and #zarahaul on TikTok. Cool to see that if not in the dairy aisle or haircare shelf, there’s at least some commitment to no-buy 2025 in the wardrobe.
Fringes
And here’s something you can stitch on and instantly sync with the fashion trends: fringe details.
Beaded Plants
In the vein of ‘sometimes you just gotta create something’, crafting-tok and plant-tok have combined forces to be obsessed with these beaded hanging plants.
Better grab the green glass beads before they run out.
Candida
TikTok has moved on from cortisol - now, it’s all about candida overgrowth. Candida is a naturally occurring yeast in the body, but when off-balance, it can lead to infections. And according to the internet, if you’re craving sugar, feeling fatigued, or losing hair, it’s time for a candida cleanse.
The supposed cure? Low-sugar diets, gluten-free living, anti-inflammatory foods, and (of course) a lineup of supplements. But before you start stocking up, it’s worth noting that many of the loudest voices on this just happen to be selling something to do with it - or sometimes saying this cleanse gets rid of ‘parasites’, which a yeast is not.
We’re not saying it’s not real - just that it’s always good to take the latest viral medical advice with some skepticism.
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just started reading this one, I’ve been saying ‘af’ a lot for the past two days. got so spooked seeing it in the first sentence 😭😭