iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 26/09/2026

Get me out of this timeline

FAST COMPANY

While retirement typically occurs, after completing a career and saving and investing for it, a new trend is emerging among Gen Z career professionals called "micro-retirement." Micro-retirements involve taking a one to two-week break from work every 12 to 18 months.

Gen Z is using micro-retirement to avoid burnout, find greater fulfillment in their work, and enhance their overall well-being. However, it's not just Gen-Z:

(The bolded sentence is the highlighted selection in the screenshot. The text is cut off at the bottom of the image.)

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 23/09/2026

It brings me great personal joy how often I get to reference this flavor text in professional settings

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 18/09/2026

“What’s it like working in game dev?”

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 09/09/2026

1) NOT MOWU 2) …Jiang Wick is 10/10, wp wp

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 02/09/2026

Throwback to 10 (!) years ago when I ran into Mike Elliott and asked if he ever played Magic before

Picture of a sheepish Yichao standing with Mike Elliott

Screenshot of the caption for the photo:
Sept 2, 2016
Me: hi there! Have you ever played Magic before sir?
Mike Elliott: I designed slivers and Tolarina Academy.
Me: ...so yes

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 01/09/2026

Marvel has the opportunity to do the funniest thing right now

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 18/08/2026

I might actually die from irony poisoning

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 16/08/2026

Not me reading this while literally eating brunch by myself

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 10/08/2026

Heard that Gran-Gran got banned today, as the prophecies foretold

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 12/07/2026

From the makers of Squid Game The Game comes“We built the “don’t build the torment nexus” immersive live experience”

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 08/07/2026

It's been a while since I've gotten to bring this lil' stamp out of retirement 🫡 Excited to be crafting some new lore again

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 05/07/2026

Thinking of how my chapter in an academic textbook opens with this picture bc no one told me the “fun headshot” they requested would be published without further questions or context at the start of said chapter

A picture of a chapter titled “NARRATIVE DESIGN: A WINDING PATH, A WILD ADVENTURE” that has a picture of the author in a white collar shirt, tie, and giant buster sword

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 03/07/2026

Haters: yall need Jesus 20 person polycule: nah we good we got scrum

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 27/06/2026

“Our video game lets you make dynamic choices that matter” The choices:

A sign that points left says terminal. A sign that points right says alternate route to terminal.

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 25/06/2026

I enjoy board games, but they don’t trigger my unrelenting crushing guilt that “I should be writing instead” quite enough Board game designers: hold my beer

A picture of a board game titled NOVEL, the board game

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 12/06/2026

"We put an error prone slander machine into our previously ironclad high trust search product and all it cost to do so was all the water and electricity capacity in Wyoming, only to get sued and lose in German courts over it" was, somehow, not on my 2026 bingo card

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 01/06/2026

These seasonal buffs are OP

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 15/05/2026

It’s 2026. You sit down to play a game of Magic the Gathering. Your opponent plays Garfield Sol Ring into Isochron Scepter into Talk to the Paw. The game then ends because @megansmith13.bsky.social ate all your cards.

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 15/05/2026

Sometimes I stop and think about this bunch of bananas abandoned on a sidewalk

A bunch of bananas covered in snow, lying on a sidewalk.

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 29/04/2026

Subtext in advertising is for cowards, supertext only

A woman standing in front of a Canadian flag with the words IMMIGRATE TO CANADA written in bold white letters overlaid image

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 25/04/2026

Proving yet again that men are just too emotional and fragile to lead companies.

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 23/04/2026

Dead: the Turing Test, where a human determines if conversational output is human or machine Essential: the Cheng Test, where we determine if someone is a real human or a LinkedIn mindrot zombie based on if they react in earnest or in parody to a Ken Cheng post

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 21/04/2026

I didn’t expect them to have Magic: the Gathering in this comic

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 18/04/2026

This flowchart has lived rent free in my head for years

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 15/04/2026

Very amused that all news coverage of @take5improv.bsky.social is like "THEY WILL HURT YOU AND YOU WILL ENJOY IT"

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 13/04/2026

What do you think Temu magic packs have inside? Wrong answers only

An image of a Temu ad listing packs of Magic. The Gathering cards for between $0.62 to $1.05.

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 04/04/2026

American workers asking for a crumb of healthcare from their employers be like

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 03/04/2026

Narrative design career progression be like:

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 30/03/2026

Dating a narrative designer be like

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 30/03/2026

Guys I made a BRAND NEW TikTok account for our improv company and what in the nine hells are the IMMEDIATE suggestions for my Discover algorithm??

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 21/03/2026

I know normally my BlueSky is for gamedev memes and reposting cat videos but today I have to share perhaps the coolest development with my improv theatre company to date (and right on my birthday, no less!):

White text on black background that shares the announcement: Take 5 Improv will be In Residence at Freehold Theatre with WEEKLY shows in the International District [of Seattle] starting in June 2026!

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 15/03/2026

With the increase in day job contracts and theater projects, I took a pause on some of my novel writing. Coming back to it now and actually digging what wrote. Like, hell yeah, this character voice is fun and sharp! Good job past me. Let’s fuckin’ go! Unrelated, sharing this graph for no reason✨

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 14/03/2026

Me: oh, a beautiful snow day! Seattle:

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 10/03/2026

#whatagamedevlookslike Eating trash, writing plays, consulting for indies and AAA✨

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 02/03/2026

Boys, your posts are not insights. They are insecurities. You air them in public so men will look at you because you’re insecure. Stop it. Read your “Gift of Therapy,” turn to Abby, be reflective and introspective.

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 02/03/2026

Let 2026 be the year of lighting and enjoying candles rather than saving them out of a fear of impermanence until they lose all scent

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 01/03/2026

I see we've arrived at the "throwing a tantrum to remove ethical guardrails so you can create autonomous killing machines" part of the timeline

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 26/02/2026

…no one tell her about how Magic packs work ag.ny.gov/press-releas...

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 25/02/2026

LinkedIn is great bc where else could you get this much free psychic damage all in one place

A post with the following text, peppered with emojis:

It’s all about PLATFORM and SCALE

Instead of Uber, which can serve at maximum 1-4 individuals at a time, he envisioned a transportation PLATFORM that elongated the vehicle to seat 25 to 30

Instead of singular destinations, He imagined regular stops along popular thoroughfares, serving commuters at SCALE

Now that’s INNOVATION that only the PRIVATE SECTOR could create

Game devs, take NOTE

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 23/02/2026

Them: what do you do Me: I work in video games Them: oh cool like writing code? Me: no, like writing story Them: games have stories now? Me:

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 22/02/2026

I mean... I would hope your *narrative designer* is "highly literate"?

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Yichao @michaelyichao.com · 22/02/2026

Tired: asking for the friend discount Wired: paying the friend *more* bc you love their work and know they’re worth every penny

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