It’s been a pretty diverse week in the creator economy. We had a look back at some of the most recent viral moments, including the Studio Ghibli AI craze, Ashton Hall’s morning routine, and the rise of the Bop House — a content house for OnlyFans creators.
On the guides’ side of things, we’re breaking down MrBeast’s Beast Games season 2 contestant contract and how exactly you can become a Twitch Partner. Here’s everything you missed on Passionfruit this week.
Studio Ghibli AI Slop Is Melting ChatGPT — and the Internet
Chat-GPT’s 4o update has made the AI platform’s image generator far more sophisticated — which, naturally, means that it is able to emulate some pretty iconic art styles. The most popular? Studio Ghibli. The animation studio is best known for its whimsical movies like Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away. But thanks to Chat-GPT, people are now sharing images of themselves, their pets, or well-known memes in this art style.
As we explain in this article, things soon got pretty weird. The onslaught of Ghibli-fied selfies and memes was expected. But once the White House posted a Ghibli-style picture of a real woman being deported, the trend died hard and fast. This might have something to do with the volume of these generative AI requests beginning to melt OpenAI’s GPUs. So, this trend ended up dying a pretty spectacular death — it’s just too bad that this happened after someone decided to Ghibli-fy 9/11. You can read the full piece here.
Decoding the Dead-Eyed Gaze of Ashton Hall’s Morning Routine
Last week, Ashton Hall’s morning routine took the internet by storm. Among other things, his routine involves waking up at 3:52am, dunking his head in a Saratoga Spring Water ice bath, and using banana peels as a face mask. However, editor Andrew Fiouzi picked up on Hall’s lifeless stare, which he describes as having “the void emanating from them, regardless of [Hall’s] actions.”
In this article, Fiouzi examines the phenomenon surrounding influencers and their thousand-yard stares. If you’ve ever wondered why some influencers look like they’re dead inside, this is the article for you. You can read it here.
Dare to Apply? Unpacking the Beast Games Season Two Contract
Somehow, despite all the controversy surrounding it, Beast Games is getting a season two. The casting process for the show has already begun: you just need to be at least 18, a US citizen and be available for six consecutive weeks between May and July 2025. Naturally, the application process involves a video where you must answer quirky strategy questions like, “Are you willing to be buried alive?”
Burial aside, there’s something not quite right about this application process. Steven Asarch assesses all the legal paperwork to be part of the show, which, most egregiously, involves signing a release to protect Amazon, MrBeast, and the production from being liable.
For the full story on the dark side of Beast Games season 2, click here.
The Bop House Is Giving Onlyfans Its TikTok Moment
We all know about Hype House and Sway House — but anyone who thinks that content houses have fallen out of fashion is wrong. One of the buzziest new content houses of the moment is Bop House, but it’s a little different from other content houses we’ve seen so far. This is because its inhabitants are all OnlyFans stars.
Bop House was launched back in December by top OnlyFans stars Sophie Rain and Aishah Sofey. Altogether, the house is comprised of seven adult creators with a combined following of 34 million. Join Taylor Lorenz on an in-depth journey into the Bop House and the general cultural shift around sex work.
To read the full article, click here.
How To Become a Twitch Partner in 2025
If you want to become a streamer, Twitch is the place to be. However, if you want to take things to the next level (and make a little more dough in the process), you might want to consider becoming a Twitch Partner.
By becoming a Twitch partner, you get all kinds of perks. These include free lifetime channel subscriptions for your chatbot and three loved ones, extended VOD storage, and the ability to delay broadcasts. Twitch Partners also get access to a dedicated support team along with more of a community. They can get invited to special events like meet and greets and Partner Spotlights.
Impressed? Thought so. There remains one question: how exactly can you become a Twitch Partner? For the full guide and all the whys and wherefores, check out the piece here.
Passionfruit on YouTube: Crossing the Streams Episode 5
In our latest edition of Crossing the Streams, some of our favorite creators are reacting to the latest season of the hit TV show Severance. Creators like Johnny O’Dell (J20), Eric (Blind Wave), Rob (Reel Time), and Navi (The Normies) dropped in to share their thoughts and feelings about the new season.
They discuss plot twists, revelations, and some of their theories on what season 3 might bring us. You can watch the full episode above.
