Streamer Spotlight: AshleyRoboto
This year has made it hard to be a happy bean, but AshleyRoboto? Sheโs thriving. The Canadian streamer is known for her upbeat, energetic streams, which stems from a love of comedy skits and making YouTube content from a young age.
Sheโs also fiercely proud about being bisexual and strives to uplift others to be their authentic selves. Watching her streams, itโs hard not to be caught up in her infectious positivity and that shows in the kind and caring community sheโs built.
Oh and she has great taste in games! Read on to find out moreโฆ
When and why did you start streaming?
I started streaming in May of 2017 as a side project to create content. I started making content for YouTube when I was 10, little dumb videos that are lost to time now. I did sketch videos with a friend of mine from early high school, and I tried to start doing YouTube again when I was in college. When I started to work I discovered streaming and Twitch and I thought I might as well give it a try to see what itโs like. With YouTube I felt like there wasnโt a lot of interaction with community and thatโs one thing I really wanted. With streaming thatโs incredibly easy to do in comparison. I put effort into it and Iโm really proud of where Iโve come since then.
What games do you prefer to stream?
This is really different I think from a lot of people, but I prefer shorter games that arenโt super heavily story-based because I think a lot of the story-based games are really long and I have a fear of playing long games on stream. I just donโt like feeling like Iโm trapped in a box of a game, so if a gameโs going to take two weeks of streams to complete that scares me. Short but with replayability is really cool so I can just toss it in whenever. Or games that are kind of mindless. I want to have games being played that everyone can enjoy without being scared of being spoiled or not understanding whatโs going on. I donโt want to punish people for not being able to make every stream.
What makes your stream unique? What can people expect?
A lot of what I get is that my stream has a lot of energy and is really wholesome and positive. I think I have a really close-knit community and I feed off of chatโs energy so much. My outlook really is to just have a little corner of the internet that can be a bright spot in people’s lives. I go into every stream with a positive outlook like โthe world might be rough, but at least thereโs a little place where you can hang out and have a fun time.” Iโve relied in the past on content creators to be a bright spot in my life when things werenโt so hot for me, so I like to try to be able to be that for others if they need it – repaying a debt to the universe!
You even describe yourself as โa happy bean!โ Why is community so important to you?
I think I just thrive better as a content creator being able to bounce off the energy. When Iโm recording YouTube videos I really am just alone in a room. And itโs not like Iโm not alone in a room while Iโm streaming, but I can still get this energy from chat and people hanging out and talking and I can just throw a joke into chat and it will spiral into this ridiculous thing. Itโs little moments like that that I love so much. Thatโs my favourite thing, that itโs not just me making the content, itโs not just me bringing the energy. Itโs a group effort of a thing and itโs really awesome to just have people hang out and want to joke around with each other and me.
Youโve also established yourself on YouTube and TikTok – do they support your Twitch stream?
Yeah Tik Tok especially. Tik Tok has been a wild driving force as of late with just bringing my stream to more people wanting to hang out, which is incredible. All I really do with Tik Tok is upload stream highlights so if people find it theyโre gonna find highlights from my stream so they already know what to expect. And YouTube is just something I wanted to do for so long. Iโm trying to get into making unique content for YouTube. Itโs going to be an extension of me and people can see more of my life outside of streaming and get more of the humour I used to put into videos when I was younger. YouTube will help people get to the stream which is still my main squeeze, what I love more than anything. I just think the more content you can put out on more platforms the better, as long as youโre not burning yourself out.
Youโre an artist as well, is that something youโd like to do more of?
Oh my gosh I love doing art. When I first started streaming, streaming was my side hobby for my art because I was pretty much a full time commission artist for a good chunk of time and I would do emotes for other people. My laser focus was on my artwork, getting a website out, having more people find me through my art and thatโs almost what I was using my stream for at first. And then I just started falling more in love with the playing games and hanging out part of it and the art kinda fell off. But I still always do art for my own channel. I am creatively antsy where I canโt let my assets sit the same for too long because I know I can do better all the time.
How do you find being an out LGBTQ+ streamer?
Obviously when you stream with the LGBT tag you get a lot of homophobic trolls that are just being silly. That doesnโt really bother me so much because I feel very comfortable and loud in my sexuality. Iโve dealt specifically with a lot of biphobia in my life and it used to bother me but now it just gets to a point where it fuels me out of sheer pettiness to just be way louder and more aggressive about it. I feel if Iโd been exposed more to people in the LGBT community I wouldโve been more out and proud sooner. So the fact that I can do that is really awesome. I know I attract a lot of other people who are in the LGBT community and whenever I get a message that someone in chatโs come out I always make a big deal and celebrate it because itโs a huge step and super scary and super hard. I remember when I came out and was so scared I sent a text message to my parents instead of telling them in person! I felt really alone in it because I didnโt really know anybody. It was just such a scary thing and I think the more you can see other people thriving and being out is great. If you have a place to go where you can be out and you can be proud of yourself that makes a huge difference.
Itโs just really cool to have that environment where I know that people can be out and be themselves, it makes me really proud. I feel like if I wasnโt so out and loud and very forthcoming about my sexuality, I wouldnโt have as much of a loving caring accepting community because thatโs such a huge part of whatโs so welcoming about my community. Weโre all sorts of different identities and sexualities hanging out and being open about it. You can feel like youโre totally yourself and youโre not hiding anything.
Whatโs the best thing about being a streamer?
Oh dear, thereโs a lot of wonderful things about being a streamer! I still think itโs having such a caring community. My Discord server, whenever I go in there and someoneโs having a rough day thereโs a huge dog pile of love and support and if anyoneโs having a rough time in stream the same thing happens. The most rewarding thing is to have had a hand in making a community thatโs so caring and kind and knowing thereโs a place carved out on the internet – that can be such a dark and scary place – that is just so full of love and light.
What have you learned about yourself through streaming?
I have learned that I am a lot stronger than I used to think I was. I feel like my self esteem was really rough when I first started streaming and before that. With a lot of the hardships that have come with streaming, like failures and people coming in trying to tear you down constantly, I feel like I have become a stronger person and realised the potential of my strengths as well. Streaming really showed me how strong and resilient I can be, itโs one of the best things thatโs come from this.
Before I started streaming, my circle was small because Iโm very much a home-body. I donโt really go out and meet a lot of people in person, so being a part of the streaming community you meet so many people that will help you understand yourself, learn more about yourself and grow as a person. Itโs an amazing thing and I think without Twitch I would not be as proud of who I am, because I donโt think I wouldโve had the proper exposure, I wouldnโt have met cool people that make me feel comfortable and accepted, and I think thatโs a beautiful thing.
Whatโs the game that defined your childhood/got you into gaming?
Definitely Ocarina of Time and Majoraโs Mask. Ocarina of Time was the first video game I ever played and that super defined my childhood. Playing that and then straight after immediately playing Majoraโs Mask really defined what I love. Theyโre not super long, theyโre really cool, Majoraโs Mask is a little spooky and I really love that. Itโs got a lot of creepy elements to it, itโs got really deep storytelling thatโs not super in your face and you can discover something new every time you play. I love subtle spooky things and things that look all cutesy on the surface but are creepy underneath. Theyโll always hold a special place in my heart.
Whatโs your game of the year so far?
Oh Lordy. See this is such a hard question to think about because 2020 has felt like a decade! Honestly I feel like right now, Hades has gripped me more than any other game Iโve played this year. I think Iโve picked things up and then dropped them, but with Hades I want to keep mindlessly playing through it. Itโs so much fun, so addicting. I want to play more of this game but I canโt keep playing it for weeks and weeks and weeks in a row!
To find out more about AshleyRoboto, catch her streaming on her Twitch channel.
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