Disclaimer: I own nothing
People said it was a business that could only be accomplished by an attractive, charismatic man with some gaming skills. Those same people also said later that the market had been looking for attractive, attention-seeking females with tops heavier than a bag of high school textbooks, all subjects including electives, added on with the typical emotional baggage. Then came a new craze online that dismissed almost all necessity for physical appearances and gaming skills. The only thing you needed to know how to do was talk.
I’ll tell you one thing- talking is not a challenge for me.
The only thing that’s made my latest line of work since being on reality shows worth doing is that I can talk all day. I can say almost anything I want- opinions, snarky comments, the occasional sarcastic joke here and there- and people eat it up like my chubby buddy eats up… anything. Was it the easiest thing to get into? Not at first. Apparently, my demeanor and attitude were off-putting in the beginning and some of the audience felt my words were a bit too hurtful. Whatever, honey, in a setting like this, I’ve got nothing to be ashamed about. Evidently, it didn’t matter that much in the end, since I am now one of the most successful in my line of work and practically no one can touch me.
The beauty of this gig is that no one even knows it’s me, Noah, a former contestant of many different reality shows. I was once known for my appearances on Total Drama (which we try not to think too much about) and more notably my appearance on the Ridonculous Race (a less humiliating experience). I had once worked as an assistant for a shameless excuse of a human being known as Chris McLean, and that was something that I could at least put on my resume as it had been at least a few months. Unfortunately, other jobs were basically a wasted effort on my part. I wouldn’t consider myself necessarily lazy, but I do think that if I’m going to put myself out there again, it should be something that suits me a little better and could potentially reward me in the future.
Sure, with my outstanding brains and intellect, I could’ve been a businessman like my dad or a lawyer like my mom. The thing is that both of those require a little something called charisma, which was mentioned earlier if you’ve forgotten. Honestly, while I could put in the effort to be a little more charismatic and courteous to people, I’d rather not. See, many would say I’m gifted with a high IQ of 180 and that I could be whatever I wanted, go to the best schools that would get me the job that would pay the ‘big money’, but that still requires work. Some of the students in my college campus would express their jealousy at not having to pay for tuition, as the few times I did put effort into something got me scholarships that would at least get me a couple of degrees. Whether or not I actually decide to do anything with them is a different story.
Let’s get back to talking about my gig. Another thing about this whole charade is that I don’t even have to leave the apartment I’m currently renting out to do it. It’s all completely online, and with my computer build and internet speed, I’m almost always guaranteed to provide a good time to anyone who chooses to stop by. My average viewer count is about a thousand viewers or more every time I begin, and I’m getting an average of about five hundred subscribers a month, which brings in the big bucks for what I do… Oh, I suppose I never outright said what it was I, former Total Drama contestant Noah, did as a line of work to get me through the day.
That’s right, the sarcastic know-it-all of Total Drama is a virtual content creator that plays games online, streams it around the world, and gets paid for people liking me. I get to wake up, finish my classes and homework, only to return to the comforts of my apartment room in order to start gaming online and having random internet people come talk to me. It’s taken a bit of time to get used to, but now I’m bringing home the cheddar for doing what I’d normally do on a daily basis anyway- except in this setting people actually like me for it.
Being on Total Drama brought to my attention that I needed to choose my words carefully with people. Sometimes it gets marshmallows thrown in your face. Other times, it gets you kicked off of a plane even though you were the sole reason for why your team should’ve actually won the challenge that got you eliminated (Screw you, Chris). When I started doing the whole vtuber scene, I would talk in my usual droll, just commenting on little details of the games I was playing here and there, and eventually held some conversations with some of the viewers. Nothing special, and my viewership at an average wasn’t anything to write home about.
My model is nothing like me- it’s a she for one thing. A cute little bunny girl with the meanest RBF I’ve ever seen, and in a maid outfit (if you’re in the vtuber scene, bunny maid girls aren’t exactly uncommon). For my voice, we use a voice changer. Even though I’m a guy with a low tone, the voice changer at least does enough to make me sound feminine, even with the sarcastic bits I tend to spit out every once in a while. The model was drawn by Kitty, my ex-girlfriend’s sister.
… Oh? You didn’t realize Emma and I broke up? It was a long time ago, and a mutual thing. Save the drama for a different reality show. Emma and I just grew apart and realized we were just better off as friends. I guess you could say she is the closest thing I have to a “bestie” now- next to Owen, that is. In fact, funny story- we actually live together in this apartment while she’s going to school for her Law degree. We’ve got a sort of arrangement going on here that benefits us both so that I can continue doing what I’m doing while she can be near her school for free. My scholarships cover housing, so having this apartment near our campus is easy, and she actually has been very helpful towards the whole vtubing gig. I may be intelligent and all, but it is difficult even for me to play games at gamer skill level while talking to chat and moderating it. Emma is very strict with rules and following them, so she and Kitty are mods in my streams, and are two of the only people who know that I am the world-renowned ButThunder3219.
… Don’t give me that look, it’s world-renowned for multiple reasons. You may be wondering what exactly makes people like me on stream when I barely got along with people outside. Look, I’ve done my research before going into this, and while I’m not exactly understanding the people who spend their time and money in this particular area of the internet, I’ve got a general idea of what makes them like me specifically. First off, Kitty drew my model to be cute, despite the attitude and sass she may give off. I even invested in someone I found online to rig the model to move professionally so that there’s some quality to the stream. That alone has given a lot of attention to the stream. Secondly, you would not believe the amount of guys I’ve had come into the stream just to chat with me and basically beg for some attention. It’s a little off-putting, and kind of pathetic in my opinion, but that’s just what it’s come to in order to make it in this business. Lastly, my comments and snarkiness seem to be one of my biggest assets here. The chat seems to love my words. We even have points for the chat to redeem things from me and one of the most popular redeems on my channel is the Roast Me! Redeem. Not sure what’s up with this really, but my chat loves when I throw sarcastic jabs at them- roasting them, if you will. They sometimes even prompt me.
With my model working well (thanks to Kitty), my gaming skills and sarcastic appeal, and Emma’s moderation skills and overall law experience to keep tabs on my earnings, this entire deal is sweet. All I do is play videogames and sometimes have roast sessions with the chat and everyone just continues to love me while sometimes calling me cute. Being appreciated by people in this light is such a different experience compared to the reality that is how people treat me from my time on Total Drama and Ridonculous Race. I could do this forever and if I just keep an eye on some new and upcoming trends, I’ll never stop growing.
I’m making it sound like the perfect life, aren’t I? The perfect experience as an online content creator and nothing could go wrong, right? Maybe only two people in the world know who ButThunder3219 really is in the real world, but unfortunately things don’t always work out the way you plan. This is only the beginning of a story that would follow my streaming career and how it would eventually conclude… But maybe, when you reach the end, you’ll learn just as I did how sometimes the unexpected isn’t always a bad thing.
… Or you could throw up at that positive mush I just spat out. Up to you.
Either way, this is the story of how the famous ButThunder3219 gets caught by a classmate, is revealed to said classmate, and eventually starts dating that classmate! It also leads into some streaming issues, a stalker viewer, my first live convention, and some other details that eventually lead to my graduation (a term often used for streamers ending their streaming careers). Whether you join me for this hectic ride into the unknown with blindfolds on, that’s up to you.
It’s time to Start Streaming.
A/N: I’m considering putting this on AO3 later, but I wasn’t sure if I was up to committing to this fanfiction idea. Granted, trying to write anything from Noah’s perspective is actually really fun! I’ve been listening to his clips on Youtube for ever just trying to get in the right mindset! Again, not sure if I plan on going through with the idea, but it really was fun typing this tiny bit.
