United Kingdom
they/them
Freelance Journalist and Co-founder of Game Assist
Bylines can be found in The Guardian, The Queerness, DIVA Magazine, Restless Magazine, Medium, Anime Feminist, Mancunian Matters
LG(BT)Q+, diversity and accessibility in gaming, J-fashion culture
Gaming
The UK's largest gaming social event is returning to Manchester next week with an impressive line-up of games studios and partners. FORMAT, formerly known as Manchester Gamers Unite, hosts industry-leading community nightlife events for gamers and non-gamers alike.
With transmisogynistic violence on the rise around the globe, Daz decided to tackle two of gaming’s most famous trans girls. How does a game that is explicitly about horrible people tackle relationships between trans people and their surroundings? This video explores the representation of trans women and transfeminine people in Atlus’s 2019 game Catherine: Full Body, as well as the 2011 original version.
We return with a splash to the video essay scene with this absolute GOLIATH covering settler colonialism and Indigeneity in video games, using Tuck and Yang's 'Decolonization is not a metaphor' as a framework. Thank you for your patience while we took a break from video essays, and we hope you enjoy this one!
Coming off the back of Cyberpunk 2077’s release, Daz explores the representation of sex worker characters in video games through the years, focusing on the last decade. From the mean streets of Los Santos, San Andreas, to the neon lights of Night City’s Japantown, join us on a journey to see how far sex worker representation has come, and how much further we still have to go.
In this Inqueery, Daz dives into the world of Overwatch to see just how good the game’s representation of queerness is. They also take a look at the wider community’s response to the characters, and to queer players in the public eye.
After a few edits, we're back to talk about how narrative structures often work to reinforce the structures of power and oppression which marginalise queer people. The trope of “player-sexual” NPCs, or characters that are bisexual due to a game mechanic, only serves to worsen these structures and limit the people we see in games. In this Inqueery, we’re going to cast a wide net and look at romance as a queer person in videogames.
In this latest addition to the Game Assist Explores series, Daz takes us on a deep dive into one of the most well known NSFW dating sims on the market: HuniePop. Be prepared for a wild ride as they uncover the deep-rooted racism and misogyny hidden behind cheap jokes and colourful puzzles.
In their first video for Game Assist, Daz investigates Nintendo's rocky relationship with LGBTQ+ representation in its many games, from Animal Crossing to Tomodachi Life.
LGBTQ+
The mini pill might have helped with dysphoria, but dealing with doctors was a very gendered experience, writes Daz Skubich
If you're looking for the perfect Christmas novel to curl up with over the festive period, look no further than critically acclaimed author Juno Dawson's latest release - Stay Another Day.
A Manchester transgender student has been forced to crowdfund thousands of pounds after waiting three years for a gender clinic appointment.
What does it mean to feel 'Loveless'? Daz Skubich finds out in Alice Oseman's fourth novel.
Daz Skubich explores why young trans folx are finding a sense of peace during lockdown BY DAZ SKUBICH
The holidays can be a difficult time for the queer community, especially when spent with family. Daz Skubich explores the joys of spending Christmas with friends, and making new traditions.
Drag Race-watching veteran Daz Skubich recaps and reviews the eagerly awaited first episode of 'RuPaul's Drag Race UK'. Keep reading for reads, toots, boots and more eleganza than you can handle!
You may think you know everything there is to know about gay slang, but there's a secret language from the past that's a mystery to many. Daz Skubich reads 'Fabulosa!' to learn more about Polari.
"After three years in the army and seven years in prison, the real Chelsea Manning finally emerges in XY Chelsea" BY DAZ SKUBICH
The British version of RuPaul's Drag Race has many in the queer community worried. Is drag all that different across the pond? Daz Skubich discusses further.
It often seems that unless you are a cisgender male, gender has a way of messing with your opportunities.
J-fashion
Fans of lolita fashion in Manchester and around the world are celebrating International Lolita Day today - with many meeting up with their communities for the first time in person since before the pandemic began in 2020.
How can Western fans of Japanese alt-fashion help keep Harajuku brands alive?
Ten years after it started in 2010, the UK's largest celebration of traditional and modern Japanese culture, is returning to London today for three days.