The Growth Raid

Marklmoon: Be Yourself, Build Your World | Episode 14

• Patricia • Season 1 • Episode 14

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0:00 | 57:56

Join us as we explore Moon's inspiring journey into streaming, their advocacy for authenticity, and their tips for building a supportive community. Discover how embracing your true self can lead to success and fulfilment in the streaming world.

Find Moon

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/marklmoon
Everywhere: https://linktr.ee/Marklmoon 

Thanks for listening to The Growth Raid! If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe wherever you're listening and leave a review — it helps more people find the show. 


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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGrowthRaid

Follow Patty: https://www.twitch.tv/patty_tv

Teaser

SPEAKER_01

I kinda forget to talk about it a lot on stream because it's just not the most exciting thing about me. You know, it's definitely a big part of me and it's something that I will embrace, but I kinda just forget. Sometimes I do forget that I'm like transit disabled because I love so many nerdy things and I've got so much so many other things to talk about. But that is kind of at the core of why I do what I do a lot on Twitch with the whole kind of advocacy and um fundraising, but also just creating a space where people can be themselves.

Patty's Note

Patty

I'm your host, Patty, and today's guest is one of our June Pride Focus guests. And they're also the very first person who reached out and asked to be on the podcast, which is amazing. Today I have Moon with me, a variety streamer and a cozy game enthusiast.

SPEAKER_02

That was so cool. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01

He started speaking, and I'm like, oh my god, I'm here. Oh my lord.

Patty

Welcome Moon. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01

Hi, I'm doing well. How are you?

Patty

I would be doing better if I had woken up earlier.

SPEAKER_01

That is so fair. I feel like my

Meet Moon

SPEAKER_01

base amount of sleep that I need is about eight hours, or else I'm just such a grumpy goblin.

SPEAKER_02

Like, I'm so grumpy.

Patty

Coffee helps. I think my my base base, like the minimum required for me to not be a zombie, is six hours. But yeah, Moon, since you you've watched all the episodes and you know what's going to happen now, we want to know your origin story. How did you start streaming? When did this happen and why?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, okay. I actually realized because it's not very simple. Well, maybe it is. I don't know. So many, many, many, many, many years ago, like in 2019, I want to say, I tried streaming for the first time. Not on my current account, but on a completely different account. I was playing games like Fortnite and Overwatch and a lot of non-cozy games, a lot of first-person shooter games, and I had just about got affiliate. Um, like almost was there, and then I quit. I, you know, I kind of got in with not very nice people, and it just seemed very disingenuous. So I left it all

Why Moon Started Streaming

SPEAKER_01

this time, and fast forward to 2023, I had just come out of spinal surgery, and I had no I had no real really good friends. Um, so I was thinking, what's the best way to make friends? I went streaming. So honestly, it was a random like Thursday, and I started playing this cozy game called Spirit Farer, and like a few nights before I'd kind of scrolled through and clicked on someone's stream, and that someone is now my lead mod and one of my best friends. Um so that that that was crazy. But yeah, a couple nights later I started streaming, and it was just kind of for fun until I kind of you know hit affiliate within about two weeks, and then kind of things started happening, and then I took it a bit more seriously.

Patty

That's so cool. So I like I like how we started. I feel like you're the second person to be like, I just wanted to, you know, make friends. And for us introverts, I feel like Twitch is a really good way. It took you a very short time to reach affiliates, and that's when you started having goals. What was like your vision to what you wanted to do with Twitch then?

SPEAKER_01

I think at the time when I started doing it just to make friends, I was honestly just looking for people to talk to, you know, like-minded cozy gamers, because I was kind of new to the cozy gaming world. And then when I finally started getting some goals, I thought I can really do something good with this platform. And I'm somebody who's always wanted to do something good with their life, you know, be be memorable for something, you know, doing something good for the world. And I just said, you know, I'm I'm queer, and at the time I was still finding myself, you know, I thought I was non-binary, I didn't know who I was. So I wanted to create

Building the Cosmic Cove

SPEAKER_01

a space for people who could kind of just be themselves and chill and unwind and not have to put on this fake front to please anybody, you know. You be yourself, you enjoy the vibes. And very shortly after I started doing that, I did a couple charity streams, which really solidified my kind of want and need to do something memorable.

Patty

I feel like uh people that I don't know if you got into cozy games because you know you wanted to relax, but I feel like the people in uh the cozy space are usually people that did struggle with that. Like the Twitch is usually where the gamers are like hardcore gamers and very loud, and like we kind of feel like we have to emulate that, but we we have our own space. So I'm glad you found that too.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you, and I completely agree. I'm like, I I'm quite the opposite of kind of like I mean, I wouldn't say quite the opposite of loud, because I can be quite loud and obnoxious and take up a lot of space in the room. But I'm definitely I'm definitely not somebody who's gonna make you have an anxiety attack if you come into the stream with all the alerts and all the lights. I'm I mean, if you if you are about that life, then I love that for you, but that's not that's not for me personally.

Patty

So when you started the second uh journey on Twitch, was like cozy games the one thing you wanted to do?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I mean, at the time I was only really playing like you know Minecraft and Spirit of Faro. Minecraft's been a game that I've been playing since before I, you know, since I can remember, um, you know, for years and years. And then Spirit of Pharaoh was kind of just one I picked up along the way. But in the very beginning, when I was just doing it for fun and just thought, you know, people will enjoy it if they enjoy it. I played a bit of Fortnite, a bit of, you know, cozy games here and there, you know, tried everything really, was was trying to embrace that in vi you know, variety streamer title. But when I kind of found that demographic of cozy gamers who talked about, you know, games like Stardew Valley and came in because they liked the cozy vibes, I really thought to myself, I can go somewhere with this. And I kind of just rolled with it. And for a while, I kind of was stuck in that title of Cozy Gamer. I refused to play anything else because I thought it wouldn't classify me as a cozy gamer anymore. That you know, to be that cozy, nice person, you have to only play, you know, farming games or puzzle games or whatever. Um so for a while I was kind of just stuck in that loop, but I I still love my cozy games so much.

Patty

If you if you look at your growth from then, because you got affiliate quite fast and and now you you have a decent average from what you know I've seen, right? You're like almost uh reaching partner numbers. How was it like looking back the growth? Do you rem do you have like any memorable moments?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, actually. It's it's really crazy because I I have a lot to a lot of people to attest my growth to. You know, at the start I wasn't really posting on socials very much because again, you know, who's gonna want to watch me? I'm just doing it to make friends. So I that's what I did. You know, I went into other people's streams. I, you know, made like a really good group of like six people who I who I loved and were best friends with. And, you know, when I hit affiliate, I had reached

Growth, Affiliate, and the People Behind It

SPEAKER_01

like 35, 50 subs but from like two people within like the first couple of weeks. I was so grateful. And, you know, my now best friend and one of my best mods, um, you know, she's been there since the beginning as well. So I have it all to attest to them, you know. They I without them I truly wouldn't be where I am today because you know, they really helped me and uplifted me through my journey.

Patty

Yeah, I feel like it because Twitch is all about community, right? So having those people, you know, to help you along the way is is something that without without it is like being a streamer is already lonely because it's just you in your room. I know, I know there's chat and everything, but you know, in real life, it's just you. You turn off your stream, and you know, now you're alone. So I feel like having having people like that, even people that you can talk when you're not streaming, it's it's really good.

SPEAKER_01

It's amazing. It's it's one of the things that I'll say to everybody who's like wanting to stream, is like just make friends, you know. It's uh it makes it a lot easier because yeah, you've got the people to when you turn off the stream, you can go to and talk about it and they'll understand. Because not a lot of people who aren't on Twitch understand what Twitch is. You know, it's it's such a it's such a vast platform and it has such a like a underworld almost. It has its own languages and you know its own niche references that only we would understand. So trying to talk to somebody of that isn't on Twitch about what you're doing is so difficult and so isolating, as you said. So it's one thing that I recommend to everybody is please make friends because it it will help you so much.

Patty

You were talking about how you for a time were stuck with the cozy games, but I see you play games like Palia and Loftia that is now coming out, and you know, I can see from when you're playing that you really enjoyed like these games. So is the cozy game just your taste? Because you were saying that you know you wanted to play these, so you're still classified as a cozy gamer. Like, what what goes into the choice of the game that you're playing, or it doesn't really matter as much now?

SPEAKER_01

I think for a while I was kind of playing it out of yeah, necessity. Like, if I don't play this game on stream, then people are gonna leave, and that was my mentality of like

Finding Your Niche in Gaming

SPEAKER_01

people aren't gonna stay if I don't play this game, which is such like a corrupt mentality because now I understand that the people who want to stay will stay for you. You know, that's what real viewers are. People who stay for the streamer and stay for you. I still only play cozy games on stream now unless it's a special occasion. Like, you know, uh Chats Unlocked It or like a Subathon or a Birthday stream. I might play something like Repo or Fall Guys, which is less cozy. But for a while I was kind of playing it out of obligation and off-stream I was playing the games I actually liked. But then I kind of I I think it was like overnight, I just kind of had like a lights a light bulb switch and like an epiphany of like, wait, maybe I do actually like these games. So then I went on the grind of playing lots of you know cozy games like Stardew and Palea, and now I just love them because they help me turn my brain off. And sometimes I don't always want that. So once I'm done with stream and had my brain kind of off just doing that and chatting, I go play like yeah, my my FPS games now. Like I've been playing a lot of Overwatch and Valorant again off stream because it they are games that I love, but I think because of the audience I've built, you know, I still want to play the cozy games with them because it's you know like my like-minded folk. But I know that if I was to play something a bit different, then it wouldn't matter all that much. I'm trying to niche down a lot more now. Um, because yeah, I was kind of playing a lot of variety games, a lot of cozy variety games, but since Palea's new update came out, like not so long ago, I'm addicted. It's an addiction. I love it.

Patty

Are you a Palea partner or a Loftia partner?

SPEAKER_01

I am a Loftia partner. I applied to the Paleo Partner program, but I've not heard anything back yet. Paleo, if you're watching this, I'm here. Hey, hi. Um, but no, I love Loftia. Oh my god, I could talk about Loftia for ages. I love it so much. And I don't remember how oh yeah, no, I do remember how I kind of went through the whole process. I actually got tagged by um uh a few a few streamers on Blue Sky and uh it wasn't just like one time, it was like three different streamers tagging me and their group of streamers that they wanted to see in it. And then I thought, wait, maybe maybe this is something I can do. You know, like maybe maybe I should just apply because the worst that you can be told is no. That's

Partnerships and Authenticity

SPEAKER_01

a big thing I've learned. Just shoot your shot because the worst thing you can be told is no. So I basically applied and thought nothing of it. Until I got an email when, you know, you've you've been accepted. And it was crazy because I've been following Loftia for a good like two years now. I wish I kind of kickstarted the alpha because a lot of the partners kind of paid to see the game when it first, first, first went out to people. But I didn't I didn't get around to do that, sadly. But yeah, I love Loftia, it's so cozy, and I'm excited to see where it goes because it it looks amazing and it has such a good foundation. So I think that once they develop it a bit more, it's gonna be amazing.

Patty

So you you kind of applied because of other creators, I feel like it also has the same vibe as like Pollia and some other games like that. But did you just apply, or do you or maybe now that you're in, do you have like a different way of uh thinking of partnerships with games? Because I feel like the thing that scares a lot of people is that if someone from that company says something that you know you don't really agree with, but you're now in like this kind of relationship with them, so it can affect you in some way. Do you like give that some thought now?

SPEAKER_01

That's a great question. I mean, I this is my first ever like game partnership, so I don't really know how this whole thing goes. Like, I I'll always say true to myself and I'll never lie to people. So, you know, if there is something that is said about a certain game that I might be partnered with, you know, I'm not gonna lie. I'm gonna, you know, speak truthfully about, you know, whatever's going on. But with Loftia, I've had no like no issues or anything like that with the game at the moment. I I I love them so dearly, and I definitely think now that I have an idea of what being a game partner is, because at first I thought you just get free perks, but no, it's like having a an affiliation with a company, you know, you're like you talk about the company and you know you you hear things first. So we are we kind of have that, you know, right to get things put out early. So we'll get information, we can make a video about it, so then on release day we can talk all about it. Now from learning that information, I'm like even more wanting to partnership with games that I love because like I want to know all the things early, I want to make more content, especially because at the minute a big thing for me that I'm really struggling with is like making content and just sitting down and doing it. And that's been a struggle for me for a little while. So having the having the knowledge of things coming early and having time to prepare for it really helps me out.

Patty

So you also have, I've thinking of description that you're like a yapie-yapping kind of streamer. So you do have a casual chat along, you know, what when you're playing, and I feel like that only really works in the type of games that you play. So, you know, Star You, Palian, they're all very yappy kind of games. Because if you're playing something like I'm playing near Automata, you know, there's a story, and I need to kind of pay attention to the story, and I can only chat with chat if I pause the game. So did you did you always have that, or was it something that you kind of started doing like with time?

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god, it definitely wasn't like a first time thing. Like

The Art of Yapping

SPEAKER_01

I was so awkward in the beginning and I didn't really know what I was doing. I I'd never really watched any streams before either. I'd only kind of gone off of what the massive streamers were with tens of thousands of viewers, and you know, they're not always what the smaller streamers are gonna be like. So I kind of tried to emulate that, but it just didn't seem right for me. I don't know what I would do if I was to play a story game, because genuinely I I've been told that I'm a just chatting streamer disguised as a gamer, because I spend half my time with the game pause, just chatting on the game screen, um, about life and about anything really. But I think it's something that came with time, for sure. Learning how to not manipulate conversations, but kind of turn things around so then it works in your favour. You know, being able to ask questions and kind of turn topics around to a very open-ended question. It's so difficult and it's only a skill I think you can pick up with time. At least that's what I did with me. And watching streamers who were able to do that as well really helped me because I kind of emulated that, and even if it wasn't working out, you know, I don't always have the most chit-chatty fast chat all the time because it's a very nice place for lurkers and for people to sit back and just watch. So being able to fake it till I make it and just yap about anything that comes to mind really, really helps. But I think on the other end of the coin as well, playing a story game could also help with, you know, people who want to just watch, you know, watch you play a nice story game. So I think it's definitely it's two sides of a coin, but for me, I really struggled with it in the beginning. But with time and skills and even just talking to yourself, like sitting and recording yourself. I know everyone says that, but it's true. There's a reason why everyone says it, because it works. Um, so no, it was definitely a thing that was lacking time.

Patty

So this yipp-yapping that you have you was like a learning process, but how was that in like the earlier days? Were you just you know talking to yourself?

SPEAKER_01

I honestly, it's really difficult to kind of think back because my memory is like a flipping dead goldfish. I don't know how I got here. I don't know how it's 2026 and I'm like, you know, streaming almost full time now. Like I just don't know where the time's gone. But I think from what I can remember, I mostly just I I just kind of just talked about the game and there were quite a few people active at the time. Like I had about four people in and like three out of the four were always chatting, which kind of helped me to always have somebody to riff off of. But I I think what I really struggled with was the quiet moments because I didn't know what to do. You know, I was just I just kind of talked about the game as if I was doing a YouTube narration and like I was just playing a game for YouTube, which kind of works, but I think the key, the key point for me was realizing that that's what you kind of need to do. If there's a bit of a quiet chat, just pretend that you're in a YouTube video and pretend that you're yeah, just talking to yourself and kind of leave some up and have questions. But no, I honestly don't know how I got here. It's 2026, it's it's been three almost two, like two and a half years. Where's the time gone? Where's the time gone?

Patty

So, what do you say about you know, playing as if you're recording for for YouTube is a big thing that I do? And also, you said now it's almost like you're full-time. Were you working before like on your early days? Were you like working and streaming, or was streaming a hobby? How did that kind of progress?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I was and still am like a full-time student alongside streaming. So it's I mean, my whole student life is not something that I always talk about because it's quite boring and you know it's something just for me. But I've kind of been doing, you know, full-time, full-time education and streaming. So it's been kind of like working two full-time jobs at the same time. And again, I don't really have much of a routine or a schedule. I just wing it and hope for the best, and it seems to have worked so far. So if anyone needs like

Balancing Student Life and Streaming

SPEAKER_01

any schedule tips, don't ask me because I just I just show up and it and hope that it works. But it's I kind of moved around schedules a lot, and consistency is something that I find really, really difficult, which again is the biggest part for me about streaming is consistency, you know, being there, showing up and you know, doing what you can uh uh on the most consistent schedule. So I kind of fluctuated to like for two weeks I do one schedule, think I could do it, and then realize actually it wasn't for me. Keeps so it's been like that for quite a few years, but now I've kind of found the sweet spot and now I can kind of be consistent with my streaming schedule at least. I'm kind of working on getting more of a content schedule going and kind of actually knuckling down and treating it like a full-time thing, but it's really weird for me to say that because I don't see it as a job. I really don't, and it's not I mean it's not giving me like a full job's income. So it it's just a hobby, you know. It's a hobby for me that's so fun, and I want to dedicate time to it, and it brings in some extra pocket money, you know, a bit of extra fun money. So yeah, I don't know. I I just kind of wing it at the moment with trying to balance, you know, getting qualifications and also doing what I love.

Patty

Yeah, I love how you you talked about the schedule, you know, going two weeks doing this, and the the realization that it's not for you and adapting to it, I feel Like it's something more people should do because some people are like, these are the best days I should be streaming, and they try to force it, and then it's worse for them. So I feel like you know, for me it's really hard because of my you know, I have ADHD and I don't have medication right now, so sleep is really hard for me. And when my sleep fluctuates, then the stream schedule is gonna fluctuate, and I can keep it consistent. But you know, I feel like my regulars will show up no matter what time I'm streaming at. So that's just what you have to find, the core community that will be there, and sometimes having like because even with the fluctuations, there's like a couple of hours that I'm always live at. So there's like that EU evening time. Even if I start earlier or I you know start a bit late, those couple of hours are like the the most irregular ones, and I think that's the part that helps. But the rest will it will just ring more people because there's people at different times that will find me on different occasions.

SPEAKER_01

I never thought of it that way, honestly, of like not you know being the best days to stream. I never really thought of like there being best days to stream, personally, because it's like Twitch is so big and like there's so many people on Twitch, surely there's gotta be people all the time, really. That's really crazy. I never thought of it that way.

Patty

No, just kind of you know what's what's a good one for me? Co-working on Sundays. There's very, very few people that co-work on Sundays. So my co-works on Sundays always have a higher area of viewers.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, I never thought of that. To be fair, my Sunday is my kind of co-working reset day. So I love your co-working Sunday stream. Never change that because it's so good. I love being able to sit down at my desk, having like a little reset, cleaning, you know, getting sure, getting ready for the new week with a patty stream. It's perfect.

Patty

So earlier, just going a little bit back to what you said, you said that you've done some charity streams. Would you like to tell us how did they start, what they meant for the community, and how you choose what caused us to support?

SPEAKER_01

So I, as I said before, I kind of ever since I was little, I always wanted to do something memorable. You know, I wanted to either be some sort of conservationalist for animals or be, you know, somebody who was quite influential and, you know, did a lot of big things for the world. Um, and I didn't know how I would ever achieve that. You know, I I've always wanted to do that, but I've also got a passion for acting as well. So it's like, well, what can I do as an actor to also kind of go through and do

Charity Streams and the Trans Lifeline Event

SPEAKER_01

what I want to do? And when streaming arrives and I kind of had the platform to be able to fundraise and, you know, make make money for charity, I thought it was my golden opportunity to kind of hone in on my acting skills and performance would also do a lot for the world. So that was a lot a big part of like why streaming specifically worked well for charity streams, because you you have that platform to support you behind you, and you have people around you that can spread it even further. So I think that if you want to spread a good message, then getting online, especially these days, is so important. Spreading the word, kind of getting people to talk about it. When it comes to causes, I mean it's just research really and picking up opinions. I don't know about you, but I always I'm just like a flipping message like goblin, and like, hey, hate to bother you, but like, what did you do for the XYZ? And I'm just like so curious, wondering, so why did you do this? And like collecting all these little opinions and causes and stuff. I've actually got a charity event coming up in June, um, which obviously you know about, and I'm so excited for that. It's gonna be amazing. It's probably the biggest one I've I've I've hosted, and I chose Trans Lifeline for it because they reached out to me originally and I said yes. So that's a really great way as well, is you know, having opportunities sent to you. So yeah, when it comes to the to charity streams and big movements like that, it's always been something that I wanted to do. I think streaming has been the best way to embrace it and kind of express myself with that. And I'm so grateful that I have the platform to do that as well, because without, you know, my friends and my community, I wouldn't be able to fundraise or be able to spread my message as far as I can, you know.

Patty

I love that you brought up your your charity that it's gonna be coming because when this episode releases, it will be the day before that starts. So if you do want to talk about it and you know, just uh tell the people a little bit more about it and kind of promote it here, if maybe that will help you get a little bit more visibility.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, of course. Thank you so much. Well, if you don't know, I am hosting a charity raid train on Twitch, um, which is essentially we gather loads of streamers to pass around our community and spread the word from one stop to another with a raid. And I'm gonna be fundraising for TransLifeline the entire time. I'm doing a 12-hour stream as well, which is gonna be so exciting. Um, and that's actually a very full circle moment for me because I um got that incentive unlocked for my December charity stream when I um fundraised for uh Samaritans. So I'm so excited to be able to like full circle it for charity again with my 12-hour stream. But it's gonna basically be an educational raid train talking about trans people like myself, um, educating people on trans rights in a lot of countries, you know. In a lot of countries it's still illegal to be trans, and also, you know, we're not allowed in the spaces that we should be allowed in. So I want to educate people on that and spread the message of how important it is to support trans healthcare because trans healthcare saves lives, you know. So yeah, it's gonna be an educational raid train about talking about trans people. Fundraising is optional, and I'm so excited to share the message with it. And it's my biggest event I've ever hosted, and I'm terrified for it, but so excited.

Patty

I recently made a couple of you know, trans friends and followed a couple more like on social media. So I do not have all the information, but if you have resources on Discord, that would be a lot helpful because I do want to be an ally and you know help and support however I can.

SPEAKER_01

Of course, yeah. I mean, I'm definitely gonna be including in the train topics to talk about, you know, a bit of research and education so that people don't have to always do their own education, the research, because I know how time consumer it can be to go and search the web for stuff. So yeah, I'm definitely gonna be including things like you know what you can talk about and what you can do day to day to support, you know, trans trans streamers, trans creators, trans people, you know, we are everywhere. We have always been here and we will continue to be here. And that's the message that I want to spread is that you know, we have always been here and we'll continue to be here. So there's no point trying to get rid of us because we're gonna still be here until you know that the world, the world is over. So yeah.

Patty

I think this is a an amazing transition to the next subject that I wanted to talk about, which is like you the reality of you as a creator, because you are openly, I don't know if you if you still call yourself non-binary and you're openly disabled. And I wanted to know if like is this like something you really wanted to have out there? It was like a very you m you made the decision to be like that and be very open on Twitch, or it was it something more gradual.

SPEAKER_01

So I mean when it comes to my labels, I honestly at this point, I don't know. I don't know who I am. I definitely I definitely think that I am more a trans woman than I am non-binary, but I still use say their pronouns occasionally, you know, I don't mind them. So it's labels

Identity, Being Trans and Disabled on Stream

SPEAKER_01

have always been such a weird thing for me because I've never fit into the boxes that society want to put me in, you know. The long the non-binary label that I was, you know, kind of put on when I came out was very, you know, androgynous and you know, I kind of owed people that androgyny, but I I just wanted to be myself, and that's what felt best at the time. Um and I'm yeah, I'm very openly disabled. I like to talk a lot about my you know condition, about how uh me and my dad's side of the family are the only people in the entire world that are recorded to have my condition. Um so it's it's a big thing for me to try and talk about, you know, getting research in, you know, medical healthcare for, you know, women's healthcare, because a lot of women's healthcare isn't researched properly. Um and a lot of, you know, kind of skeletal healthcare and you know, talk thinking about the way that people's bodies can mutate isn't talked about a lot either. But yeah, no, labels have definitely been such a really, really weird thing for me, and it's not always something I talk about. I kind of forget to talk about it a lot on stream because it's just not the most exciting thing about me. You know, it's definitely a big part of me and it's something that I will embrace, but I kind of just forget. Sometimes I do forget that I'm like trans and disabled because I love so many nerdy things and I've got so much, so many other things to talk about, but that is kind of at the core of why I do what I do a lot on Twitch with the whole kind of advocacy and um fundraising, but also just creating a space where people can be themselves, you know. I'm being myself, so it would be silly to not let other people be themselves, you know. So from the start, I've kind of just been open about it, and even with strangers in real life, I've always kind of just been open about it. But yeah, sometimes you just gotta say, you know, I'm trans, I'm disabled, and I'm pretty cool, you know. We're all we're all here and we've all got our own things that make us unique. So it's definitely a big part of who I am, but I forget to talk about it a lot because I have I I I like a lot of things.

Patty

So has the this year your identity have has it meant something specific for your community? Like, do you have people reaching to you uh about it or you know, just asking in general?

SPEAKER_01

For sure, for sure. I mean, I've had a lot of community members reach out to me and ask, you know, what's how do you do XYZ? You know, how do you go about, you know, talking about that? You're a wheelchair user and you know, XYZ. It's it's definitely, I think, opened a lot of doors for people to be themselves because I'm so open about it. People don't feel like they have to hide away and like hide who they are, you know. I don't they don't want to be like the the weirdest person in the room, but in my space, there is no weirdest person in the room because we're all the weirdest people in the room, you know what I mean. Uh so I I'm so grateful and glad to see people coming together and making friends in my community because of their mutual disability or because they're both transgender or whatever. And that's the that's the best part about streaming for me is seeing people make friends and seeing people, you know. I I've even had two people in my stream meet through my stream and started dating in my stream, and now they've met up with each other and they're like really progressing, and it's like it that's just an absolute fever dream for me that that's that you know I I helped that. So it's it's it's just amazing, honestly, to see to see people come together because of our mutual kind of thing that we all have, you know. For you it might be you know ADHD or you know, that you're a dog parent, and it's these things that we always have that help bring us together, and that is the most gorgeous part of our community. It's amazing.

Patty

Are there any specific challenges that people probably don't think about with you know being disabled as a streamer?

SPEAKER_01

That's actually a really good question because honestly, I don't have many challenges besides just the fact that I tick quite a few boxes of people that would get probably harassed, as grim as it sounds. It's something that I've just come to down to the like I take a lot of different boxes, you know, I'm quite out of the ordinary. Um, but for me, because I get to I mean, you know, all you guys are seeing is like, you know, uh here up. So when it comes to things like if I was maybe an IRL streamer, it'd be a bit different, and you know, kind of sharing my day-to-day needs and stuff, which

Challenges of Streaming as a Disabled Individual

SPEAKER_01

I actually want to do a lot more of. I think it's seeing people seeing the kind of a bit into your life definitely helps with feeling a bit more connection and and kind of human behind the screen. Um, but as far as challenges go, there's not many. Maybe energy actually. I can talk a lot about energy and tight and like tiredness levels because there are some people that can go for like six to eight hours straight. And I always thought that it was an ush, like it was like an issue with me. I couldn't do that, everyone else can do that. Why can't I do that? Because I've always been at like three hours, four hours. I'm like, guys, I need to go to bed. I'm so tired. But now I realize it's because of you know, I think it's because of my disability and because of my additional needs. It it definitely hinders how long I can stream for and how many breaks I have to go on. You know, I have to go on quite a few BIB breaks to stretch and get up and kind of make sure that my body's happy um to be my best self on stream. So yeah, there's not many challenges I I'd say personally. It's it's mostly just the energy levels and the breaks, really. But again, everyone's different, and people have shed with me like the different struggles that they have, and it's really yeah, it's really nice to see a bit into people's lives.

Patty

Well, you've talked about uh, you know, the people being different. So, where does this uh being different is something to celebrate thing? Like, was it something that you kind of had to learn, or was it something that you always had in your personality?

SPEAKER_01

I'm really lucky with the fact that my parents raised me to be that person to not be, you know, not be afraid to just fly my freak flag. You know, my parents always told me, you are different, and that's good. You know, don't be don't be the beige in a sea of beige, be the rainbow that stands out. And that's kind of what I've always lived by is you know, being being that blue marble in a jar of pink marbles, being being that one who stands out and is different. I mean, obviously there's there's lines that

Celebrating Uniqueness and Acceptance

SPEAKER_01

need to be drawn sometimes. I'm not always this like really weird, different person, you know. Sometimes I do just want to fit in and be treated like everybody else. You know, that's what a lot of I think disabled streamers want to feel like is not feel like something to be gawped at or kind of like like, oh, you're disabled, you know, being talked about behind their back. But that's what we all want, really, as people who are different, is to not always be different and kind of just be treated like everybody else. So that was a big challenge for me in the beginning, was to um kind of embrace that of like, you know, I do want to be different, but I want to be treated like everybody else as well, you know, trying to find that healthy balance. So for me, I think it's something that's always been ingrained in me and always just I've had, which I'm really lucky and so thankful that I have that kind of way about me. But I don't I don't see the point in being anybody else other than you. Well, that's really boring. Like I don't know, I don't know about you, Patty, but whenever I if I ever try and be somebody else, it doesn't work very well. In the end, you know, I'll say it's exhausting, isn't it? I'll I'll say like a funny, really weird joke, and I'm like, all right, we're back again.

Patty

I think for me it's I don't know, I I follow a lot of people, and sometimes um when I have people in chat, oh you know, I think in my head, this other person would have reacted to what they're saying very differently. Because a lot of people that I follow are like very bubbly and kind of you know positive and you know always smiling, and I'm like, I'm not. I'm a I know I'm a and you know no one is gonna mess with me. I if you don't want to be here watching, don't watch. I'm not gonna take from anyone because I'm so done, I'm just so tired of people on the internet. And going on that, you said you tick like a lot of boxes to kind of get bullied on the internet. How do you kind of protect yourself while being alive? Because it's something really hard to handle. It's already hard if it's like YouTube comments, but when it's all there and live, it's a lot worse. So, do you do something to just kind of protect yourself?

SPEAKER_01

I mean, funnily enough, I've not actually gotten a lot of live hate. It's it's it's it's quite good actually. The only really hate or kind of bad things I've experienced is in YouTube comments. I don't know why it's YouTube comments. YouTube, I'm looking at you. Why do you all suck? Why are you all horrible people? It's the YouTube comments that are awful. I'm like, okay, then that's just mean. It's I don't know if this if you experience that as well, but I think it's general, yeah,

Protecting Yourself Online

SPEAKER_01

yeah, yeah. Honestly, YouTube comments are the worst. But when it comes to live, like kind of live hate and people coming in, the worst experience I've had was a hate rage whilst I was live when I was like four viewers in, like not very big at all. Had a hate raid, um, you know, people were just not very nice in in in chat, which was not fun. But I think the worst was when my Discord got bombed, because that changed my that changed the way that I saw streaming completely. That's kind of how I that that was a pivotal moment. You know, I people came in and spammed horrible pictures with everyone pings about 300 times, like in each channel, and I've got about 20 channels because you know, we're yappers. Um, so it was just not fun at all. And that was on my birthday stream as well. So on the cherry on top, it was my birthday. It didn't ruin my birthday though, because it was actually quite a nice stream after that. But I think having the wits about you and remembering that it's the internet is the most pivotal thing for me, is the most important thing. You know, remembering that because it can feel like when you're a yappy streamer like me that you are just chatting with some friends, you know. But no, you're on the internet and you know, every anyone can see what you're saying right now and hear what you're saying. So I think that the the best part is just to keep your wits about you and just remember, you know, where you are and what you want to say and being intentional with what you say. Like especially for me, I parasociality is a big thing for me that I've had to go through and experience, you know, people thinking that they can be my friend if they have been in more, you know, more than one stream, which isn't okay. And especially for cozy streamers, I think. Don't know if you had this as well, but because we have quite inclusive language like hi friends, hi pals, whatever, that kind of already sets the precedent that you know we are friends, we are pals, you know, you can you can chat to me about whatever, even though that's not the case. So I've got to remind certain people that we aren't friends, you are just my community member, which is hard as that is for me, because it's like just a community member sounds so mean, but parasociality is probably the worst thing that I've had to deal with, which in the grand scheme of things isn't that bad. But besides from that, I'm really lucky I've not had a lot. You know, I've been streaming for two years, and for about I want to say about nine months now, I've kind of taken it fully seriously. Um and since then I've not really gotten much, which is quite nice.

Patty

So zooming out a little bit, speaking, you really built like built a really good aesthetic community with your values. Do you do you think you are like a successful streamer? What does you know success as a streamer mean to you?

SPEAKER_01

Wow. That's a big question. Ooh, what does success mean to me? That's a really that's a really big question. I think I don't know, I don't really know what success looks like personally, because everyone is different, and that's the only something I've learned recently is that everybody is on their own path. You know, there's people who have been streaming for like six months who have partner and have hundreds of people, and then there's people

Defining Success in Streaming

SPEAKER_01

who've been streaming for like since Twitch came out and you know haven't reached partner yet. So we're all on our own journeys and we're all different. I think success for me, I have goals, you know. I'd love to, I'd love to, you know, maybe reach partner one day and kind of do more with my platform. But one thing that somebody said to to kind of to me about streaming, which has always stuck with me, is regardless of a purple check mark or regardless of sponsorships or whatever, I'm still gonna come here and have fun with you guys. And the only issue that I will have is when I stop having fun. When I stop having fun, that's when we need a review. And those words have really stuck with me, and that's kind of what the motto I've been going on for a while because numbers and success were kind of such a big I'll be so honest, was such a big burden on me, and it's it weighed on me so much of like, you know, I really, really, really wanted to do well in the Minute I had you know a bit of growth I'd latch onto that and then if it kind of fluctuated a bit again I'd be so distraught. But I think the reason why I've had a bit of a boost recently is because I just stopped caring. Like if I reach partner, it will happen at some point soon. I don't know, you know. I'm just going with the flow, having fun, and making sure that my community are having fun. And with that, I think has come just a whole new outlook on streaming. But no, I've got goals and I'd love to start my own stream team up one day to to kind of advocate, you know, do what I do, but on a bigger scale, and also just create a nice, cozy space, you know. I talk a lot about advocacy, but honestly, day-to-day streams are just chill. Like, I'm not always yapping about you know what you can do to help the world or whatever. It's just kind of something that gets weaved into conversations, really. You know, we might end up chatting about it one day or whatever. So I've definitely got goals that I'd like to reach, but I'll be so honest, numbers were such a hard thing for me up until I want to say the start of this year. Honestly, I just stopped caring about what people thought and what the stream summaries look like, and yeah, from that came a whole lot of new friends.

Patty

I think I think that's a big one, like because success is gonna look different according to what what your goals are, right? So for for some people, you know, just having chatters there just means they're successful, you know. There's people watching, there's people talking with me every day, and you know, that counts as and for other people it's more of like if you can make a living out of it. So I feel like it is very different. And the thing you said about uh, you know, stop caring about the numbers is something that I'm kind of shifting now because nowadays I use my streams to generate content for other platforms, so you know I'm playing these games and I'm playing these games intentionally because I want to take like recordings and upload it to YouTube and upload it to other platforms, and I'm playing games not because chat wants or whatever, it's because I want this to go on other platforms. Like in June, I don't know if you saw in June I'm doing an art challenge, and this is not for Twitch, this is not for growing. This is one something that I want to do, and I want to try and improve. And I'm just doing it on Twitch because why not? So

Content Creation and Cross-Platform Strategies

Patty

I'm kind of trying to, you know, do things for other platforms and with other goals, and I'm just gonna be streaming it. And if that helps Twitch, fine, but I don't know. I I've I've reached like a weird point on my Twitch journey. It is what it is.

SPEAKER_01

I I really admire that honestly, because for me it's like I've always struggled putting my street like live content into YouTube content. I think a lot of that is because of what I play. Um, you know, I kind of I don't really play games that have big kind of funny things that happen, you know, maybe party games or multiplayer games, you know, will have hilarious things that'll happen that you can kind of put elsewhere. I have all these ideas for YouTube videos and stuff like that, but translating it over to like, you know, go go if you want to see this, go to my stream. It's like, well, how would we know what your stream is from just this video? Do you understand what I mean? It's like I just it's still something I'm trying to learn a lot about, so that's why recently I have been trying to, you know, talk more about the game, or if conversations come up, I'll try and intentionally answer to make it into something that is worth putting online and stuff. But I mean, I I what my goal is at the minute, I think my long-term goal for this year would probably to be to excuse my French to get my together when it comes to content and to to kind of get my get what I'm doing in order because at the minute when it comes like TikTok and YouTube, I'm just posting what is kind of easiest for me to do and kind of what is, you know, what works, what kind of works for me. But I know that I can do more and I want to do more, but it's just again, as I said earlier, being a full-time student and having to keep up, you know, a social life and then streaming as well. It's hard, and I'm I'm really grateful that I kind of still have the growth and community that I do, despite not being as active on on socials. Because I I would love to I'd love to do more with that.

Patty

What do you think the streaming world gets wrong about the more cozy kind of streamers?

SPEAKER_01

I think a big misconception about a lot of cozy streamers is that they're all women. Genuinely, I think a lot of a lot of especially men who don't play cozy games think that the Sims and Stardew Valley are for girls and are girl games, and you know, women all all cozy streamers need to do is you know press the go live button because they're all women and they all get views. It's so naive, it honestly pains me. Um this is a big misconception about cozy streamers and the fact that cozy streamers want to be friends with everybody, you know, because we're nice to people and we're inherently kind people, you know. As you said earlier, you say you say that you might be a

What the Streaming World Gets Wrong About Cozy Creators

SPEAKER_01

b, but I think you're quite nice actually. So I think you're quite nice. Um I think you know, we're all kind of inherently nice people, so we do get taken advantage of quite a bit, and there's a lot of there's a lot of just misconceptions about who we are as people that because we play cozy games we have to be gentle and soft and you know we have to fit in a certain box, but I think quite the opposite. I think being a cozy streamer means being yourself, most of all.

Patty

Yeah. I've known cozy streamers that also love heavy metal, so you cannot really judge.

SPEAKER_01

I love Paramount. I love Paramour, Evan Escence, My Chemical Romance, all of them. I love it. It's so good.

Patty

Have you ever seriously thought about quitting?

SPEAKER_01

Sorry, that's like just like whoa, um have I thought about quitting? I think maybe. I I might have. I think because I quit previously many, many years ago, um I kind of just like thought, well, you know, you can quit if you want to, but I've never felt like I wanted to quit this time around. Um there's been times where I've been like, what would happen if I quit? Because I've been, you know, in in the into periods where I've had not a lot of time and I've really struggled with balancing

The Journey of Streaming and Personal Growth

SPEAKER_01

it all. It's felt like a burden. But I think, yeah, ever since I kind of stopped caring about the numbers, that's helped a lot as well, because it's like, well, it doesn't matter if the numbers aren't the best at the time. Let's just say it is what it is. So and I've only been doing it for two years as well. I think that helps my mindset a lot is streaming is something that takes a long time for a lot of people. You know, the majority of streamers they don't reach success until like, you know, a f quite a few years down the line. You know, there are some people that are the exception to that, but most of the people who I know kind of it's it they've taken their time to get where they want to be. So it's just that thought of like, I think this might be like my obsessive part of my brain or like my addictive brain, of like, but what if I just go one more year? Like what imagine what gonna happen in like a year's time, you know. If I've ever thought about quitting, it'd be like, but what if next year it's like your year and like you know, you you know, you do this in this this and that. But genuinely, I don't I don't have a reason to quit at the moment because it's really really fun. It's so fun.

Patty

Well, I think this has been such a uh a nice conversation and you woke me up, so thank you.

SPEAKER_01

Good morning. I hope you had a nice sleep.

Patty

Before I let you go, is there something else that you know I didn't ask, or something you want the listeners out there to know?

SPEAKER_01

I would honestly I'd love to talk about kind of being kind of touch back on the topic of like being yourself on Twitch. You know, one message that I will say to you, you right there watching, I can see you. Just be yourself genuinely. Like you might think that people aren't gonna want to see what you have to bring, but they do. People can tell when you are being disingenuous. There's

Final Message and Where to Find Moon

SPEAKER_01

been times where I've been disingenuine purposefully because I've not felt because my best self hasn't felt like what people wanted. But people can realise that and pick it up, and that's what deters people if you are disingenuous. So being yourself, embracing who you are, and knowing that there are spaces out there that will uplift you. That's what I want my space to be, is a space where you know people can be themselves and be uplifted and you know, kind of have the motto of a little rest point on your little adventure. That's that's kind of my my motto for things, is just be yourself because who cares? Who cares what user one two three says on TikTok? Who cares what Dragon Eater says on YouTube, you know? Just be yourself because you are the only version of you that will ever be out there. So yeah.

Patty

I hope everybody listens that. Thank you, Moon. So tell everybody uh out there where can they find you on the internet?

SPEAKER_01

Uh you can find me on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. I've got a VODs channel and an official channel now. Of like as of two weeks ago, I've actually got an official channel for official videos. Um I'm live on Twitch four times a week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 5 p.m. UK time, playing mostly paleo, but a lot of cozy games. Wearing my little elfheas. Where are my little elf ears because I'm just a nerd. Um and yeah, we'd love to have you on the in the cosmic cove.

Patty

So the last question that you know it was coming. If I could have any streamer on the podcast, who would you like to see me interview?

SPEAKER_01

Wow, wow, wee wow. Ooh, oh my gosh. Can I just name one? Or can I like list off so many?

Patty

I I mean some people give two, so I'll allow that.

SPEAKER_01

Two, okay. Well, I think Sweet Wild Thing, uh, yes, as you know, sweet. I think Sweet is absolutely amazing and has so much to tell about her journey. She's very similar to me in the fact that we do a lot of advocacy, a lot of fundraising, and we have a big message that we want to spread. And oh, it's so hard just picking two. Hmm, and I think I'd love to see

Guest Referral and outro & credits

SPEAKER_01

Louise Nile. That's a good one. Louise underscore Nile from my stream team. Louise, you're probably watching this because I love you. Louise is so awesome and she has gained so much success in such a little amount of time, and it's just amazing to see. So, yeah, I think those are my two if I had to pick to the date. But yeah, that'd be so cool.

Patty

Anyway, thank you so much, Boone, for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you so much for having me. See you later.

Patty

And thank you to all our listeners at home. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to give us a follow. You can find the growth rate wherever pods are cast, and if you can, tell a friend about it, because word of mouth is the best way for us to grow. And please don't forget to rate us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts because that helps the podcast grow so much. We'll see you next Thursday on the growth raid. Goodbye. The growth raid was created, hosted, edited, and produced by me. If you like the show, feel free to rate it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. That really helps a lot. And don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel. If you would like to listen ad free and see all of this episode's loopers, join us on Patreon at patreon.com slash thegrowth rate. We also have a Twitter, Blue Sky, and Instagram at the Growth Rate. And if you know a streamer that would have an amazing story to share, leave your recommendation in the comments.