Disclaimer: This short essay is not going to be discussing the details of production, the morality of piracy, nor is this a call out to anybody in particular. This essay is a discussion about culture and reassessing our approach to the discourse in general.

One of the things that have been bothering me for a while about the anime community has been the discussion about piracy. The discussions that we have time and time again do not really seem to go anywhere. It is not the impasses themselves that bother me, but the mentality that we have towards it. Older…

On Thursday, August 1st, 2019, I had announced I have the full intention of leaving Facebook and all of their services for good. Facebook had broken the last straw for me. I will be unpublishing both pages, closing down Clubtaku, and deactivating my account on September 1st, 2019.

Why was this the last straw?

Let’s rewind to the 2018 US Midterms back in November. I discovered through personal investigation that my data had been sold multiple times by Google, Microsoft and Facebook. My family is conservative and Catholic. Abortion is a top issue for them. I discovered why Planned Parenthood…

NOTE: Please watch these two videos first before continuing onward with the article. This article is primarily aimed at reaching other content creators or for those who have always wanted to make content online.

I took an entire class on this for my current BS for “Digital Audiences” at ASU (essentially learning how to manage, analyze and grow social media accounts), got certified for this very topic, and it still depresses and also inspires me how much of a challenge it is to get views on videos that I spend dozens or hundreds of hours on.

Here’s the good tea: if you truly want to fundamentally shift away from clickbait, you need to have companies like YouTube, FB, etc move away from a profit model. It’s a daunting task, very relevant, but very much a need for further, deeper discussion on “how” to do it (no question on “why” anymore).

Now snapping back to the present: what’s useful for content creators HERE and NOW to push out their content is always being ready to adapt to the rules of the game. Any long-term content creator knows the rules of the game, but have trouble…

For a while I was not going to touch this with a 10 ft pole, but after a depression sleep, a few thoughts came to me about Nessa’s white washing controversy. This issue is shockingly reflective of burnout than any of us realize — even for people initially upset believe it or not.

See, I remember how controversial Archie was growing up and I did not understand the controversy myself when I was younger. I did not understand why Archie was suddenly a symbol for gay rights. …

So you have a “why boner” for queers. That’s okay ❤

Content Warning: discussion on transphobia

I explored the concept that anime fans tend to spew out called: “traps”. It’s a controversial term because of the implications that it has for the mentality that genuinely transphobic people have. One thing that I will criticize about this passion project is that I forgot to factor in the mental health of transgender people and what would drive them to the position of labeling “trap” as transphobic rather than reclaim the slur. I admit that I was starting to come to terms with being trans myself at the time and I feel the…

2018 was a bitch. 2019 could be worse, or better.

What I’ve learned is that you really do make the difference in your own life — given that you ask friends and family for help. I’ve learned that building community and relying on our neighbors and peers makes the unbearable bearable, the impossible possible, and the awkward quite enjoyable. Because of the support network that I have created this year, I am coming out of what seems to be the longest, arduous year to date with scars that make me beautiful. …

I binged all of Hare-kon last night and I just gotta say: it’s a refreshing approach to harems in a way that spoke to me on a personal level. The harem is from a female perspective in the middle of it all and despite being an idiot, her naïveté makes sense in this crazy situation and is explained in a realistic and fantastic pace that feels organic.

One of the most common concerns that I see as of late in relation to Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 is simple: “if we boycott, wouldn’t that be putting the hundreds of hours of labor done for this game to waste?”. To that I simply say: no. Let me explain why. For those wondering why talks of boycott over Red Dead Redemption 2 are even happening, to summarize the controversy: the production showed signs of sloppy management from the time it was announced and showed itself with “crunch hours” that kept some senior staffers at the office to crunch in…