iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

True to being a League of Legends fan, I have recently grown a bit tired of playing League. I needed to play something more relaxing, so I have opted to play... Doom (2016) for the first time. So far, it feels a lot more chill! I am being dead serious right now!

3100

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 6h

New from me: I did a deep dive and spoke to Pokemon fan game creators for @fansplaining.bsky.social. This was so hard to source, but I am humbled by the sources who took the time to talk to me about this super massive, and relatively under-examined, fandom. fansplaining.com/pokemon-fang...

fansplaining.com

Pokémon Fangames Evolve Beyond Their Origins

For fangame creators, the work they develop and the communities they inspire are inextricably tied.

25624

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Elizabeth Minkel @elizabethminkel.bsky.social · 6h

*Love* our latest from @pokachee.bsky.social, about a type of fanwork that's massively popular but one I rarely see discussed in convos about transformative fandom. Fangames are technically interesting—literally using the source material in modding—but even more so from a community/fandom angle:

fansplaining.com

Pokémon Fangames Evolve Beyond Their Origins

For fangame creators, the work they develop and the communities they inspire are inextricably tied.

0146

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Maddy Myers 🏳️‍🌈 @midimyers.com · 7h

this analysis of Big Walk, through the lens of "men don't talk to each other anymore" and the cultural norms that have led us to where we are with that, is so lovely and i think will resonate with a lot of you

mothership.blog

Big Walk lights the way for non-toxic masculinity in games

Interrogating "men don't talk to each other" through a game about communication

315835

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Danielle Lalonders @dlalonders.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

my issue with the lack of women of color in games media and journalism is how important their perspective is when reviewing games. im sorry and no shade but i dont think a white man will have the same perspective of a game like Venba than a woman of color (esp brown)

220244

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Jesse Guarascia @jesseguarascia.com · 29/09/2026

Games media is better when it's not the same categories of dudes over and over again. @pewpewbang.bsky.social is one of the best shows in games by a LOT!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP-X...

youtube.com

Pew Pew Bang - The Sarah's Birthday Episode

YouTube video by MinnMax

3576

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

If you are in a position where you can do anything at all about this, please, please advocate for women of color in media. There are so few women and nonbinary people period. Even less of them are non-white.

111341

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Guardian US @us.theguardian.com · 28/09/2026

For every arrest that breaks through into public view, countless others happen quickly, before anyone can notice. Now ICE is anywhere and everywhere, embedded in all corners of everyday life.

theguardian.com

Gone in 90 seconds: an ‘invisibilized’ ICE is arresting more people than ever

After public backlash, the Trump administration changed its tactics from ‘siege’ to ‘soft feet’. Now, ICE is everywhere

5514295

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Xalavier Nelson Jr. @writnelson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

WE'RE MAKING A SHELVING SIM WHERE YOU USE THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM IN A LIBRARY THAT'S HAUNTED AS FUCK BECAUSE A BILLIONAIRE WAS STUFFING CORPSES IN THE WALLS TO GENTRIFY HIS CITY WISHLIST "SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE LIBRARY" TODAY store.steampowered.com/app/3971340/...

871529535

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Very random (but important) question: What are your favorite non-profits doing work in media, journalism, and (for my own interests) video games? Looking to get a better idea of the kind of work happening out there for a larger project. Likes and RTs appreciated.✨

74123

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Mikhail Klimentov @leadergrev.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

For nearly two years, I've been investigating a pattern of ominous legal letters sent to journalists by defamation counsel representing Bobby Kotick. That investigation is finally live. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...

youtube.com

Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press

YouTube video by People Make Games

221175437

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

www.theguardian.com/games/2026/s... I haven't shared my work on here for a while because (gestures at the weird vibes) but I wanted to share the first of a series of articles I worked on at Pokemon Worlds for @theguardian.com. In this article, I spoke to a whole bunch of IRL Pokemon Professors.🥼🤓

theguardian.com

Meet the real-life Pokémon professors, the unsung heroes of competitive monster-battling

They offer advice, referee card games and manage players’ tantrums – we caught up with some of the volunteer profs who keep the competitive game going at this year’s world championships

02812

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Chris Bratt @chrisbratt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In recent years, the media has quietly begun to change the way in which it writes about Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. PMG investigates how Kotick used the threat of defamation to reshape his legacy in the games business, one article at a time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKwp...

youtube.com

Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press

YouTube video by People Make Games

231984915

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Why is it always “Ana aren’t you on deadline?” and “oh I thought you had your night class at this time” or “why did you send me this” And never “Ana thank you so much for sending me 20+ links to 🔥🔥🔥 SettPhel art”

2180

Reposted by Ana Diaz

MinnMax @minnmax.com · 21/09/2026

❤️ Chicago❤️ Don't miss the new MinnMax Spotlight with @leovader.com and @gameonysus.bsky.social exploring Chicago and @jackboxgames.com with appearances by @pokachee.bsky.social, @suriel.bsky.social, @patrickklepek.bsky.social, and more! youtu.be/Aj53SRZn4VA

0587

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I saw a bunch of unverified, meme-like screenshots being circulated by clout-chasing influencers over the past week in a particular fandom. I was distraught to see the lack of skepticism around completely unverified screenshots on social media. Then I saw a gaming news outlet cover it as news.

1120

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Nicole Carpenter @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

i wrote about pokemon cards for teen vogue!!! a big, 5,000 word story about how we got to this point, and how the community has changed (and stuck together!) through it all www.teenvogue.com/story/pokemo...

teenvogue.com

Pokémon Cards Became a Billion-Dollar Industry. Then Came the Armed Robberies

How an innocent hobby became a target of armed robbery, break-ins, and six-figure heists.

919854

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

As a Pikachu fan, 30th celebration really is that set. I’m so grateful for my local cards shop for taking anti-scalper precautions. I very genuinely believed that I wouldn’t be able to get this at retail😭💛🖤❤️

A photo of six Pikachu cards from the 30th celebration Pokemon TCG. Every Pikachu looks cute in its own perfect way.

2240

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Eddie García @egprchamp.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It’s HHM! As the industry falters, I’m lucky to have a role in games. As a Latino, even more fortunate as simply put, not many of us exist in games. If you’re reading this, I’m asking you to be an ally. Whether at an event or in a boardroom, please support and speak up for your Latino colleagues 🫶🏼

1310524

Reposted by Ana Diaz

danielleri @danielleri.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Have some BIG NEWS, and it really is wild that today is also the anniversary of the Fanbyte Apocalypse. But my time at Game Developer is done, and hence, my time as a full-time game journalist has come to an end. 20 years in a career sure is something. www.tumblr.com/danielling/8...

After 20+ years of writing professionally about games, including time at Polygon and Idle Thumbs, launching Waypoint, serving as editor in chief of Fanbyte and finally as EIC at Game Developer, my time is done. I'm officially out at Game Developer. Given the state of game journalism, this obviously means leaving the profession, at least as a full-timer.

I'm out, with respect to my colleagues, and a lot of love for the site as it was. We've published work that I'm extremely proud of, particularly our reporting on labor and on how workers are finding things in a miserable, gutting moment in the game industry. I'm proud of the dev-authored features we had for so many years, the resources and knowledge and bits and pieces of know-how that I still use, to this day, in my own game design courses.

What's next? Well, I'm not leaving games. I'll always be making and teaching and writing about games, it just can't be my full time gig anymore. I've actually been doing narrative design on a game since 2022, with a team I really believe in, and I can't wait until I can show that off properly. I am also OPEN TO WORK. Anything involving writing or editing words, editing video, teaching (I've been teaching college since 2009), and hey, I'm an EMT and got my phlebotomy cert a couple years back. I'm versatile!

For full-time employment, I am eventually going to try my hand at medicine. I've served as an EMT here in NYC since 2016, and I've been taking science courses post-bac since January 2025, usually 2 or more at once concurrently with... the full time job, my part time adjunct job, and volunteering on said ambulance. Exhaustion set in years ago, lol, so I've settled into something beyond that at this point. I feel like I've been climbing a mountain, and trying to make many things work at once. I had a pretty good rhythm going, truth be told, despite all the burnout. I'm proud of myself for that.

I'd really like to be a physician assistant one day, or potentially a nurse practitioner. It's a very, very long and hard road to either of those paths, but I'm going to make my way as best as I can.

How do I feel? Again, devastated was years ago. We're pretty far past that at this point. What's happened to journalism in America is... a topic for a very depressing, very well-researched book. I hope someone writes that one day. What happened to game journalism... well, it's more of a niche, but I can say only that reporting honestly on layoff after layoff and corporate malfeasance writ large and executives gambling the whole industry down the drain was tough, but somebody had to do it.

But it's not something one can do without editorial independence.

It's dramatic, but I'm going to mourn this career. Twenty years of my life, at 42, is just about half of my days alive. I put a lot, and I do mean *a lot* of myself into this. I tried at all times to lead with empathy and care for the human beings around me and to be as honest and frankly honorable as possible in my work. I really, really tried to live my values in my work in this career, and the only way I can keep that reputation is the path ahead of me.

So there it is. Expect to see me making games, making art, teaching game design, writing about games from time to time @VeeGeeBees. Expect to hear more about my adventures as an EMT, and hopefully, soon as a PA student, and eventually, as an advanced practitioner. I've kept telling myself, in the darkest and worst days of the last few years, that I'll fly again, somehow. It'll just look very different.

To sign off, and pull an old favorite out of my pocket: be good, and be good at it.

991000129

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Aftermath @aftermath.site · 14/09/2026

IGN's ownership chooses busiest time for games media in years to lay a bunch of people off: aftermath.site/ign-layoffs-al...

12637191

Reposted by Ana Diaz

MinnMax @minnmax.com · 15/09/2026

This week’s Bonus Pod is all about the 2026 Pokémon World Championships. Join @haleyfax.bsky.social and @pokachee.bsky.social as they discuss everything Pokémon. Unlock Bonus Pod at the $5 tier on Patreon. www.patreon.com/minnmax/post...

0143

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

posted a photo of me at a work event this morning but people cannot be normal about anything online so i had to take it down :(

1130

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Jay Castello 🌻 @jaymcastello.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

you don't need me to tell you that Diego is the best. he really can do it all

082

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

we all have that one friend you just gotta keep at 60-80% volume on discord. ♥️

2343

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

today i like writing and my writing likes me😎

3160

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Maddy Myers 🏳️‍🌈 @midimyers.com · 08/09/2026

today's @mothership.blog story is about mothers and daughters and it can't really be summed up in a sentence very well... i cried multiple times reading it, i'll say that much

mothership.blog

Sitting the month: Playing Röki with my mother after giving birth

A story of the ways long-held traditions can still surprise us and reveal us to one another

19117

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

me once again waving goodbye to a stream with no wind waker news

A screenshot of Link in Wind Waker. He looks sad and is waving goodbye from a boat.

0541

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

i dont think people realize how underserved nintendo fans have been when it comes to live music events in the past 5 years (and a bit longer even). ((i think about this all the time))

050

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

CHICAGOOOOOOOOOOO LET'S GOOOOOO ZELDA CONCERT IS ALL I WANTED

1131

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Carolyn Petit @carolynmichelle.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

word on the street

A handwritten sticker reading

NEVER
KILL
YOURSELF

affixed to a green public bench.

321041

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Hopped on league for the first time in a couple weeks last night. The boys went all in on the support roles because I had a hankering to play Tristana. I got a double quadra kill that game. 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️This is what i mean when I say we should be supporting women

0160

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

good morning i still feel like parts of last night at Worlds were a hallucination

A photo of ed Sheeran performing live at Pokemon worlds

180

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

You can’t see it well but the Ampharos mascot’s spheres LIGHT UP !!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!

A photo of mascot Ampharos and dragonite dancing on a stage.

1272

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Kallie Plagge @inkydojikko.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I swear Worlds is fun and it's not just crying but Pokémon really is my favorite thing in the whole world for both the fun and the crying

2353

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

hello yes I’m prepared to die for the tcg juniors world champ yuta

A photo of a Jumbotron showing Yuta, a young child smiling who just won the juniors Pokemon trading card world championship

0160

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I’m like Cinderella except I took fire pics with this cosplayer and I forgot to ask for their socials so now I don’t know where to follow them.

0291

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

And it has been added to the Discord server already

A screenshot of a Discord chat. There is an emoji of a Psyduck staring.

0211

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Jordan Middler @jordanmiddler.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

They’re calling it the greatest day of JJM’s life.

1682

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I brought a camera to Pokemon worlds and this has unexpectedly taught me that many people don’t know how to use a normal camera anymore

0210

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

We are OUT here at Pokémon Worlds and PokémonXP. I’ll be running from place to place for interviews but please say hi if you happen to be attending. ❤️

A photo of Ana at Pokemon worlds. She is posing in red light and in front of a giant stage with a massive Pikachu.

0340

Reposted by Ana Diaz

Aftermath @aftermath.site · 25/08/2026

All the biggest announcements from Gamescom Opening Night Live aftermath.site/gamescom-openi...

321554506

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Something something about how girlhood is making fast friends with other Poké pals and taking turns doing whole ass photo shoots in front of the eeveelution installation while you advise each other on the best poses possible and giggling and having fun all the while

0140

Reposted by Ana Diaz

MinnMax @minnmax.com · 24/08/2026

Watch @haleyfax.bsky.social go on the BEST TRIP OF HER LIFE as @sarahpodz.bsky.social guides her through Tokyo and Kyoto with the new MinnMax Spotlight. youtu.be/4c4d85dFsoU

2678

Ana Diaz @pokachee.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

HiHi!👋🏼 I'm super excited to share that I'll be heading to Pokémon World Championships next week to cover the event for The Guardian. I have a couple fun stories planned but I'm always down to get a coffee and learn more about what's up. Also, Poké pals who are attending, please hit me up!✨✨

0364