When You Ignore #BrandZero

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

A while back, a graphic novel called I Am Not Starfire was released. It featured the predictable ugly art and “social justice” storytelling popular among current American comic pros, and it received criticism from all the usual places. But what was the result of all the memes, hot takes, and video essays “taking down” the comic and “fighting the SJWs”?

It charts.

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Posted in Popular culture | Tagged | 4 Comments

Kadokawa Will Not Censor Its Manga

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

A couple of days ago, I mentioned that Kadokawa plans to censor its manga in a larger post about the possible corruption of that industry.

Well today, I’m proud to say that regarding Kadokawa, such a fear can be put to rest.

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Posted in Creative freedom | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

#BrandZero Returns

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

A while back, I came up with a concept called #BrandZero, in which we avoid mentioning any big pop culture franchises at all in an effort to promote smaller works.

However, I had fallen away from it over time, since talking about big brands drove Twitter engagement and blog traffic.

But it turns out #BrandZero may be right after all, and now, I will return to it. What changed my mind?

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Posted in Popular culture | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Manga Is Not Your Pop Culture Savior

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

I’m seeing these videos all the time: “Manga’s kicking US comics’ ass!” “They can’t stop the rise of manga!” “Manga sales outpace all of US comics’ sales!” This triumphant shouting was amplified by a Bounding Into Comics article stating that anime studio JC Staff does not cater to foreign censorship demands.

While I’m happy that Japanese manga is doing well in the US, I won’t be so quick to hail it as some savior of pop culture.

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Posted in Creative freedom | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The Perils of Sasha Reed Is Finally Live!

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

The Perils of Sasha Reed

At long last, it’s here. On the Kindle iOS app and Amazon’s own website, you can now read The Perils of Sasha Reed.

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Posted in Fiction | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

When Redditors Do Religion

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

A 2016 article from The New Yorker details the Simulation Hypothesis, or the idea that we are living in a highly elaborate computer program rather than a base reality. According to the article, quite a few people within the scientific community buy into the idea, citing the fast pace of technological change in our current world.

But there’s one problem with this from a secular standpoint: The Simulation Hypothesis is the same as God-belief. It is a religious cosmology, not something proved by experimentation.

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Posted in Religion and Atheism | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Why Creatives Surrender

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

Recently, two creatives surrendered to woke mobs: the small-press horror publisher Silver Shamrock Publishing, and big-time indie developer Scott Cawthon of Five Nights at Freddy’s fame. I consider both of these to be rather sad, as wokeness has been stifling creativity in professionally-made media for a long time, and every creator who backs down makes things harder for others who don’t want to tailor their work to a privatized censorship board.

The Silver Shamrock case is particularly bad because the publisher initially made these statements in defiance of trigger warnings:

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Posted in Creative freedom | Tagged | 2 Comments

Sasha Reed Now Has a Release Date

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

A few days ago, I unveiled The Perils of Sasha Reed, my upcoming serial on the new Kindle Vella platform. However, I could not give a release date because I had no idea when Vella would actually open for readers.

Now I do have one: Kindle Vella releases for the Kindle iOS app and on Amazon’s own website in mid to late July.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

All Trading Card Games Are Print and Play

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

When I first heard about the Pokemon card shortage (yes, really), I realized something very important: All trading card games are print and play. It has always been easy to create mockup trading cards for personal use, and I’m going to explain how.

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The Raygun Romance Revealed!

Posted on June 11, 2021 by Rawle Nyanzi

I’ve been talking all week about this Raygun Romance, but now is the time to stop beating around the bush and get to it.

Introducing The Perils of Sasha Reed!

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Posted in Sci-fi | Tagged , | 1 Comment