Short-Thoughts

I am about to return to my usual business after spending 4 days outside: First was the three-day Philippine Game Show in Taguig, second was the long-awaited Miku Expo Manila 2025, and lastly the three two-day rally at Luneta. We talk about the PGS’ debut first. I’ve yet to gather all the stuff that have happened during the three-day smorgasbord of games, cosplay, and J-pop, but there’s an elephant in the room which needs to be addressed: There was a gambling brand facing the stage area. I do not know why they’ve been placed there, I don’t know why it’s there, but I am made aware of who put them there. ...

Long time no see, I guess? I was so focused with VTuber NewsDrop that I only blog here sparsely. Now that you’re here, allow me to welcome you to my new website. I lost track of what version is this on, but I’ll put this on v6. This time, we’re on a different platform – Hugo. My friends use it, VTubers use it, and now I’m using it. It’s been a journey learning how to deploy v6 online, and I’m thankful for every small wins I earned throughout. ...

Those who have followed the manga prior to the film have seen how it’s adapted, while those who are new to the popular anime franchise were immersed into the series’ universe on the spot. A handful of scenes were a critical hit with the audience, and some of them have become emotional watching things unfold in front of their eyes. —Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Kept Fans, Moviegoers Glued to their Seats (August 19, 2025)

“(Hololive is) best-known for having one of the largest fan bases in VTubing — and their success in the industry attracts fans and potential talents to either join the agency or set up their own,” says Jay Agonoy, editor and publisher of the website VTuber NewsDrop. [NewsDrop’s editor] points out another difference in that, unlike with [AKB48’s Yasushi] Akimoto, “Most English-speaking fans forgive Tanigo if Cover makes mistakes, as long as Hololive’s talents are treated well.” The support remains strong, even after a string of high-profile “graduations” (idol-speak for departures) from the agency. “You rarely see that kind of reverence toward other executives in this young VTuber industry.” ...

So, the Tiktok ban is made in effect an hour before midnight. I wrote a story about how we’re realizing the effect of this restriction on VTuber NewsDrop. What I regrettably didn’t notice is that we can change regions in the account settings prior to the ban. That setting could have prevented us from being part of the affected accounts. I tried other methods but I think Tiktok is compelled to stop everything for users in the US. Even if you get successful working around the geo-restrictions, there’s no way you’d be able to change your Tiktok region now. It’s best to wait things out until we’re able to get back to our casual brainrot habit again.

There are pieces of history which I am still not familiar with: Some of these include the legislation process of the Religious Instruction Bill (authored by Mariano Jesus Cuenco of Cebu) and Barrio Maligaya, both set in the 60s. I was kind of familiar with Barrio Maligaya when I read a snippet of a story behind it during the pandemic. Seeing it adapted as a documentary film (for the second time - the first one was in the 80s) is beneficial for me to understand the first among the community development projects that my faith, the Iglesia ni Cristo, has established. ...

Welcome to the airport, where we have departures upstairs and arrivals at the ground level. I had everyone called here (not really) so you won’t give any excuses that there’s no need to announce something (I just don’t want to hear it at the moment). When I had talked about wanting to go to WordCamp Manila as media, I was both excited to attend a major WordPress event, and still leaning to keep supporting Matt Mullenweg’s vision of WordPress for the future. ...

Queens. A Logic Game that’s on LinkedIn. I get notified to play this game every day to keep my streak. I gave up on playing one game, but I went ahead and got my first 7-day win streak after. On this puzzle, a crown should be placed without overlaps. Per area, per row, per column. If this is the reason why you’re visiting LinkedIn every day, I will not judge you. More power to you. I hope you solve that puzzle faster, even. ...

If there’s one thing I learned from being online, it’s the fact that I have overshared my presence. In the past, I told people, “go share your content online, on multiple platforms!,” but nowadays I am but a shell of that. I would now tell you to be wary of what you share, for several reasons: You speak your thoughts in public, and all of a sudden there would be people who will stress you out, call you names, etc. Or you’re on the other side calling out the worst people for reasons you find right and/or justified. And then you end up hurting them, with others hurt along the process. ...

Every year there’s always a case of a streamer (or in this case, a VTuber) getting drugged/spiked at parties around TwitchCons in the US (this you can fact-check in depth), and it’s quite concerning that victim-blaming and harassment happens afterwards. No, rephrase that, it’s deplorable that those who got drugged get torched by some guys online after saying they were drugged. I have been fortunate enough to not see any of this in the bar events I attended here in Manila so far. The one time I see something crazy at the bar in person was the time where one would barf up after getting intoxicated with alcohol. ...