the flesh in the fruit and the blood in the wine

(⌒‿⌒)

[arienic]

NIC 彡 ♡ she/her, 18+; big lover of bugs and rain an inconsistent writer

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©arienic 2021. Do not repost, copy, or claim any of my works as your own. Do not feed them into AI.

[xerith-42]

So about that AI post huh?

If you're in the Aphverse fandom and you don't know what that title is referring to, you might want to sit down to read this. It's not... the best.

I want to use this post to both compile all the information I have from my own sleuthing, and express my thoughts and nuanced opinions in one place. I'm incredibly depressed by this whole situation, and I think everyone who's ever been a fan of anything made by this team deserves to sit with this uncomfortable truth with as much information as they need for as long as they need it. So lets get started.

This whole ordeal starts in the summer of 2026 on the main aphmau website, aka Aphmeow.com. As a promotion for their back to school line, this image was uploaded to the website.

Now you might not have clocked this as AI generated immediately, I was skeptical, but you can see where the cracks are showing when you look at the notebook on the right. It looks totally wrong, and once you see it, you can't unsee it.

People rightfully clocked this as an AI generated/assisted image within hours of it's posting, both fans and people who have previously worked with CatFace. I first cocked an ear at this whole controversy because of posts made by a voice actor who used to work with them, and when I dug into it, there was not any confirmation from the official team. In this stage of speculation I also heard a claim that I'm going to put in this post, but I need it to be read with many grains of salt.

There have been allegations made that on a job listing for CatFace studios within the last few years, there was a requirement for applicants to "be comfortable with the use of generative AI in the creative process." I have not seen any screenshots proving this, I have checked their recent LinkedIn listings and not found anything to this effect, and I cannot verify the truth of this claim. I bring it up because its a claim that you will hear thrown around this discussion, and I want it to be treated with a critical eye.

I don't think it's impossible that such a thing was on their job listings, I just cannot find proof that it ever was. Also I think it's important to remember that some companies use products and services that have generative AI features built into them, so comfort with those is necessary if you're going to work with them. It's possible that's what the listing is talking about, or it's possible that higher ups will ask writers to use ChatGPT to improve their workflow. We don't know.

Now let's get back to the thing we have proof of, that promotional picture. This we know was AI generated/assisted because shortly after it was posted, the image was taken off of the website and CatFace posted a statement on their Instagram addressing the controversy.

This statement is... a mess. I don't like it, it gave me a bad feeling the first time I read it, and it's only getting worse the more I sit with it. On the surface this seems... fine, but any additional thinking about it shows some flaws in the arguments proposed by the team who posted it.

The main thing that gets to me is the second paragraph, talking about contract artists and previous incidents. To be frank, CatFace seems like a terrible company to work at as a contract artist. Looking up "catface glassdoor" pulls up numerous reviews left by employees past and present, and discussions about how the reviews left aren't even news to some people. Some controversy about people lying in those reviews, and maybe some of them did, but if enough reviews of your company say the same thing, then it's not judt ex employees with an axe to grind.

A lot of these GlassDoor posts talk about a very toxic work environment, one that is unfortunately common for big channels like this, but is still a problem. A lot of crunch culture, last minute changes to staff and plans, and generally leaving a very bad taste in their employees mouths when it comes to the higher ups of the company. In a culture of crunch, where deadlines are sometimes impossible, artists are pushed to their absolute limit in what they are physically capable of. And if they're a contract worker who's ability to keep getting contract work depends on fulfilling these impossible requirements, they might be pushed so far they take desperate measures.

Like using Generative AI to meet those deadlines. And this is why I take issue with the mention of contract artists and previous incicents in this post. If there is a previous history of contract artists using generative AI to meet production deadlines, that is not necessarily the fault of the individual contract artist, even if this post is trying to make it sound like it is. It's the fault of the company that pushed these artists to their absolute limit so much that this has taken place multiple times.

I've heard mutterings of other antics Jess and Jason have gotten up to with AI on twitter, but I have too much respect for myself to actually log onto that website. So if anyone has any proof of any of that, I'd love to see it. As you may be able to tell though, misinformation spreads fast.

That's why I'm making this post. So that way everyone can see what actual easily compiled evidence there is, and come to their own conclusion about continuing to give their viewership to this company and their products. It's on you to decide if you want to keep supporting these series, and I'm sure you won't be alone if you decide to disown it but take a small handful of your favorite characters and claim them as your own.

Just keep yourselves informed and sharp

[xerith-42]

Well... there was more stuff said because Jason can't not post on twitter. Screenshots and further discussion will be under the cut again because there's a lot more to it. Keep reading to see the bad meme I made in response to all of this

So Jason Bravura doesn't know when to shut his mouth and lie and now we're all paying the price for it. In response to... all the stuff I talked about in the original post, Jason took to his favorite website to give us an update (shout out to @menphias-flame for getting these screenshots for me so I don't have to open twitter).

There's so many problems with this I don't know where to even start. I guess the first thing is that clearly there needs to be some kind of work done on the internal Catface team if this kind of thing is happening without Jess or Jason's approval. That's a huge L on their parts.

The second thing is that comment about how this comes at the tail of character skin tones on merch and all I have to say is YEAH THAT'S NOTHING NEW. Skin tones of these characters have been off in merch for a while, and they have been completely butchered in thumbnails for even longer. Their thumbnails can't even get certain characters eye colors right, let alone their skin tone. That is a weak argument for why they weren't involved in this, because skin tones have been an issue for this team since they were Blujay studios.

Third, I really hate how Jason is making a martyr out of himself here. Talking about how he's responsible for everything, how he personally halved his salary for the team, how this is all his fault. I wish he just. Hadn't done that. Because if your content production is so overwhelming and incapable of keeping up with itself without using AI, MAYBE CHANGE YOUR CONTENT PRODUCTION SCHEDULE???

Nobody is making Catface upload that many cocomau videos a week, and I'm sure if they heard me say this, Jess or Jason would start talking about how much money it takes to run their operation. And my response to that is to downsize your operation along with downsizing your content generation. Because as it is now they are burning the cabdle at both ends, overworking every artist contracted under them, and still failing to meet their own requirements. Methinks their requirements might not actually be humanly possible anymore and they need to change what those requirements are in order to survive.

Fourth, and finally, we have confirmation. Confirmation of the job posting (lightly), and confirmation that yes Catface uses AI in their content creation. Now Jason is trying to convince you in this post that they use it in an ethical manner, that there is no art or writing generated for their works, only ideas and production tool creation, whatever that means. And uh, hey Jason...

THERE IS NO ETHICAL WAY TO USE THE STEALING AND LYING MACHINE THAT KILLS THE PLANET!! YOU ARE KILLING THE PLANET WITH EVERY TIME YOU ASK A CHATBOT TO GENERATE SOME IDEAS FOR AN ASMP VIDEO!!

We now have confirmation that Catface studios uses AI in the process of making cocomau videos. And that sucks!! I wish they had lied to us!! I wish that Jason had gone on twitter and told a bold face outright lie to the entire fandom! I wish we could've been forever stuck in speculation with squinted eyes, instead of having this ugly truth laid bare. This sucks.

That's all there is to this. This sucks.

I'll probably still finish Mermaid Tales because in my social circles I've been the only one who's watching it and reporting back to people on how bad it is, but once that's over? I doubt I'll watch another new Aphmau video. Even if MyStreet Season 7 actually comes back, even if Jeffory and Blaze and Cadenza are all in it, I'll not want to watch it. Because now I can't trust the creators or anything they make. I never can. Until I see a comprehensive behind the scenes production process on MyStreet with reliable proof of no gen AI usage, I can never trust them, and that kind of documentary would cost too much money to film.

I'll still work on my fanfictions, have my fun with these characters in my own worlds, and engage with other fan content. This fandom is a special thing to me, and I've never needed them actually making anything I wanted to watch for that to be the case. But I will probably talk less about critiques of the writing and just do more silly Blaze posting when I'm in the mood for it, cause he's mine now as far as I can tell.

Thank you for reading this far, thank you for keeping a critical eye about you, and remember that Jason can't take your childhood memories away from you. Sparkle on and remember to be yourself

Oh and here's that meme I promised, made in about 5 minutes with a reliable zero usage of generative AI in the creative process

[scribeherself]

if you're sitting on a fanfic idea because you think it's "too weird" or "too niche" I need you to understand something: the internet is VAST and FULL of people with your exact brand of weird. that crackship that makes sense only to you? there are at least 50 people who will read it and go "oh my god FINALLY." but even if there were ZERO? you still deserve to write the thing that makes your brain light up.

[totalspiffage]

what this fandom needs

more f/f

[totalspiffage]

What fandom, you ask? All of them. There’s not enough in any fandom.

[rinrinkho]

Hello I'm back with Laurgene nation propaganda for you today!

To the person who said that Shadow Knights should be able to bathe in lava, I love you for giving me this idea :D

Also had this on loop for hours on end while drawing this

[heyfruitcake]

Reasons to boycott Nolan's The Odyssey (that I know of so far):

They shot in the illegally occupied Western Sahara as reported by Middle East Eye (thanks to @fuckyeahdavidandyonatan for bringing that up)

They dumped their props into a protected area of the Italian sea after shooting (thanks to @godslop for finding the article in English)

Zendaya wearing looted 3000 years old Iranian earrings for the premiere of the movie + having her stylist fly on a private jet just to get her a dress for the premiere in London

No Greek actors in a movie about Greek heritage

While people mentioned that Anne Hathaway was flown in to the set every day, apparently it was not on a private jet but on a helicopter that was being used anyway to fly in equipment.

None of these things are new in Hollywood or exclusive to the Odyssey, its director or its actors, but I do think we as audience should start holding Hollywood accountable when it disrespects our culture, heritage, environment, especially when it's movies that are this big and have a huge budged that would allow for more conscious choices.

Please do add anything else I missed.

[frownyalfred]

“I’m actually really into writing. I—”

“Can I read something you wrote?”

[orions-garden]

mother, daughter // a sandra lynn and figueroth faeth poem

here’s the contrapuntal poem I wrote as a part of @d20exchange 2025 for @complicatedwomenpodcast!!❄️

+ bonus short sandra lynn playlist here because I was feeling inspired

[mari-monsta]

why is it that when im reading fanfic i feel like i have a fairly good metric for if something is characterized accurately but when im trying to write suddenly its like ive never seen this character in my life. would he say that. would he fucking say that. suddenly i have no idea

[arienic]

sometimes reading fics is crazy because ill be going thru this masterpiece and then obviously it has 2k likes. and then i see it has like 70 reblogs. bro 😭😭😭😭

[glitchedgirly]

See the thing about Stratt putting all media ever in the Hail Mary is that it isn’t just for lolz or to keep the crew entertained, it always struck me as something deeply sad. Because even if all the crew survived, there was no way they could consume all possible media ever, language barriers alone would present a problem. And even then, they had a job to do and focus on first (which could have theoretically taken decades of work to figure out) so they wouldn’t have much use for The Great Gatsby or a week’s worth of poorly written amateur Guatemalan experimental opera. Let us remember that Stratt is practical and true utilitarian Instead, I think it was another part of the Hail Mary. If the scientists failed, if the Earth died, then what? Everything would have been completely lost. Art, music, film, history. Destroyed. Without a single living soul to remember it by. It would be as if all of humanity had never existed.

But if it survived? If other alien civilizations discovered traces of humanity? Then the memory of mankind could live on and be remembered. What better way to do that than to send everything (literally everything, the art, the music, the science, the history) out as far as humanly possible so that it might connect with someone else in the universe? It would be a long shot, a Hail Mary, but it was the best chance that humanity had to be remembered

[rinrinkho]

"One day, Johannah, this sword– dad's sword– will be yours."

Malachi is hard to draw...my design for him may change who knows.

We all agreee Malachi has horrific abandonment issues right?? right???

Like there's no way in hell he didn't experience horrible anxiety/depression when Laurance (HIS FUCKING DAD) dissapeared AGAIN...into HELL mind you...

Abandoned by his birth parents. Left behind by his adoptive parents for 15 years. Then his dad dissapears into the nether for years with no hope of seeing him again.

AND YET, I think he still speaks rather highly about Laurance. When his sisters ask about their dad whom they have never met, Malachi remembers the kind hearted and charismatic man who he met in the moving castle. The man who stayed with him when he felt utterly alone in the world. In the 15 years his parents were missing, he held onto Laurance's scarf, secretly hoping that he would return. And he still holds on to it with the hope that one day Laurance will return from The Nether.

Laurance left his sword behind for Malachi, but he chose to save it for Joey because, 1) he has no practical use for it since he doesn't really fight, and 2) Joey doesn't have anything to remember her father by so Malachi decides it will he her sword, not his.

I really wanna make a short comic about Malachi and Laurance now goddamit. Okay so yeah this was my warm up doodle for the day

[chikuwathecat]

It feels good to be massaged with a lint roller. (Don't worry, the lint roller has zero adhesion!)

コロコロでマッサージされると気持ちいい。（コロコロの粘着力はゼロですのでご安心ください。）

[whatcoloristhatcat]

red mackerel tabby

[ridingforrohan]

Instead of trying to digitally reverse age actors for The Hunt for Gollum I think they should abandon the script entirely and just put Viggo Mortensen in costume and film him chasing Andy Serkis in a leotard across the scenic landscapes of Aotearoa. Give Andy Serkis a head start. Viggo will probably become Aragorn several hours into the chase. Locals can aid or hinder as they see fit.

[rainrein]

i love creating oc x canon ships i think more people should do them and i think more people should be really, really, really weird about them

[stupiderat]

What if Arkco as La Belle Dame sans Merci

Twitter | Tiktok | Prints available!

[ohangeleyes]

alright, i'll be the one to say it. ao3 and tumblr becoming "mainstream" did so much damage to the community and the writers. i have seen loads of videos and posts about:

1. people hating on writers and fics. writing is something we do for free and for fun. if you stumble upon a fanfic that isn't necessarily your cup of tea or you just don't like, scroll. dont read it. literally leave their page. you don't know if this could be the author's first work that they're so excited about, you dont know if the language they're writing in isn't their first language, you dont know that the writer could be a literal teen and loads of other reasons. fanfictions don't HAVE to be perfect. you write what you want to write because we do it for fun and enjoyment and we want to share that to the world. seriously, what is the wrong with that?..

2. x reader consumers getting WAY too entitled. the number of tiktoks i've seen that say "i run a strict program when it comes to reading fanfics." girl you aint running shit. this is FAN FICTION you're reading. F A N F I C T I O N. there is no denying that most fanfiction writes are beyond talented but just because you read one fanfic that exceeds your expectations doesn't give you the right to talk down on others that don't. people have their own personal writing style, their way of doing things and you talking shit on that isn't right.

at the end of the day, we are all humans, reading and writing is what we do and what we're meant to do. and for you to talk shit about a person WRITING is so insane. we are humans. not some robots that you can tell what to do so you can consume it.

i've seen so so many authors take down their fanfics and losing all motivation to write because of a hate comment. DONT LIKE DONT READ‼️

and to every author reading this, this community values your work and your contribution. we love u and, please, never let anyone's negative words have an effect on you.