Chapter 14 - Clippers

"Speak of the Devil, is it?" I hum as I skim through the email another time. "So basically an interview."

Some time has gone by since my first composing stream. I haven't done another, though I am planning to do one some time soon—can't leave the song unfinished, after all. 

I was idly browsing the Store, noting down anything of interest when a notification popped into my phone. A new email had come, and I opened my mail to see what it was.

And imagine my surprise when I saw that the sender is the one and only VShojo.

I didn't have as big of a freakout as I did when I got an email from Hololive. Mostly because I'm actually acquainted with several of VShojo's talents. But I still nearly fell out of my seat when I saw that.

The email itself isn't anything special. VShojo's largest talent, Ironmouse, has invited me to come onto her stream to be interviewed in a segment she calls Speak of the Devil. It'll be some two hours long. Maybe three depending on how quickly we go through the questions.

It'll be hosted in a VShojo Branch building in central Tokyo. The earliest possible chance is in two weeks, though I can negotiate another time if I need to.

Of course, my decision is already set from the first moment I finished reading the email. I haven't interacted with Ironmouse much, but from the clips I've seen about her on UTube, she seems like quite the swell girl, or Devil in this case. It's about time I meet her by this point.

So I jot down my email and send it across the internet. The follow-up is returned barely two hours later, and I can't help but smile as I see the confirmation regarding our meet-up.

The only thing left to do is wait. And that, at least, I'm familiar with.

…

"Sticking out your gyatt for Nerizzle-" The mind-numbingly addicting jingle continues to play from my phone, and I grin as the other streamers in the video groan and plead for the song to just stop.

It doesn't of course. The perpetrator, one Kokeki Bijou, continues to sing it with no hesitation.

I chuckle, though I soon close the video, lest the brain rot take over what remains of my mental faculties.

It's late evening now. There's still a couple hours before my stream starts, and I have nothing else to do. And as usual, what few empty hours I have is spent watching clips of other streamers on UTube. I mostly let the UTube autoplay guide my experience, though I've been watching more English-speaking streamers as of late—just to make sure my English doesn't deteriorate.

And it's fun. Seeing little snippets of other streamers' shenanigans, hearing bits and pieces of their lives, all packed into a single video. Some clips are pretty barebones, and some are like miniature movies in their own rights. 

It's incredible, really. To know that someone enjoys your content so much that they're willing to go through hours of content and pick out the best pieces to share to the world.

I have no doubt that my channel wouldn't have grown this big and this quickly without the hard work of the clippers that've taken my streams and turned them into clips. It's them that allowed newcomers to get a glimpse of me without slogging through hours of content.

And sure, my UTube streams might be shorter than the average streamers', but that's still tens or hundreds of hours.

I just wish there was some other way I can support them aside from my undercover support to their Batreon accounts. I would've just paid them directly, but I fear that it'd compromise them. Clipping is, after all, a labor of passion. A hobby. And hobbies stop being fun when it turns into your job.

…well, that aside,

I suppose I'm not just lazing around. I've also been watching clips from Ironmouse's previous Speak of the Devils, just to see what I'm supposed to do during it all. It doesn't seem too intricate—they basically sit down and go through a number of questions chosen personally by Ironmouse and some voted by the viewers on social media.

And I'm down to answer any question. Or most questions, actually. I ain't answering anything about my lovelife. Because I don't have any.

The hours go by, and before long I'm back on my desk, ready for another stream.

The usual plays out. I greet my viewers, we do a short chat, and then we dive into the meat of today's stream. It'll be a game of Darkest Dungeon this time—a rougelite game I've been somewhat addicted to these past few weeks. I love it, my chat loves it, and we both laugh at the semi-frequent unfair bullshit that gets thrown our way.

I'm still not over that triple 90% miss. My chat still spams 90% from time to time.

Then, around an hour after the stream started, I got a peculiar superchat from one of my viewers.

[1000 JP¥] BuliBuli55: Aiko-chan, have you heard about what's been happening in Nijisanji lately?

The moment that superchat comes through, the chat is quickly filled with viewers admonishing the person for it. It's the first time I've ever seen my chat be so…aggresive, and I can't help but blink.

"Thank you for the superchat, Buli-san." I smile wryly. "But no, I haven't. I'm not the most up-to-date person, and I don't actively use my social media for much."

That odd situation passes eventually, and we return to enjoying this dungeon run I'm going through. 

But even as I continue to play, I can't help but wonder what they mean. I've always purposely kept myself away from social media, unless I need to announce something. The online conflicts I've seen in the past were not flattering, and I haven't seen anything different about it here.

I mean, sure, the Japanese were a lot more polite compared to those from the West, but scandals and conflicts still arise from time to time, and the aftermath is never pretty.

As for Nijisanji…admittedly, I know much less about it compared to Hololive. I'm not sure why, actually. Both are Streaming Agencies that originate from Japan. I can't really explain why I've watched more Hololive compared to Nijisanji.

A strange headache rings in my head as I try to think why. I quickly shake my head and return my focus to the screen.

The rest of the stream passes peacefully. We go through a few dungeons together. RNG smacks me in the face a few times, but it's nothing compared to the triple 90% miss I went through in the previous Darkest Dungeon stream. A good thing, because I would've actually smashed my hand through the monitor if that happened again.

Two hours come and go, and I bid my viewers a good night as I end the stream.

[Today's Stream Rating: A!]

[Tallying Stream Points:

+6 (Stream Rating: A)

+2 (Stream Duration: +2 hours)

+4 (Added new 'Lore' to the Streamer's Character)

+1 (New Viewer)

+4 (10 New Viewers)

+8 (50 New Viewers)

Total Stream Points: 25]

I nod. A pretty good stream overall. 

I do a quick stretch as I push myself away from the desk. Two hours of streaming is nothing compared to the hours some streamers can pull off, but the amount of energy I need to both pay attention to the game and be entertaining to thousands of people isn't small.

And yet there are people that are able to stream for ten hours. Or twelve. Or even an entire day.

I salute those people. Because I'm pretty sure I would essentially be dead by the seven-hour mark.

I stand up, grab my phone, and with all the grace of a seal I flop onto my bed. I've already opened UTube by the time my head hits the pillow, and I grin as another clip from Hololive plays. I settle in for the night, knowing that I won't be getting much sleep.

And I was right. I proceed to watch clips from other streamers for the next three hours. 

Absolutely worth it.

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Author's note: 

Sorry about the late upload, y'all. I had a bit of a hard time writing this, and then proceeded to hurt my hand. I'm (somewhat) fine now though.

Also, any do you have any Indie VTubers you recommend? Looking for some I might add into this.