Meet Ashtaric, our August spotlighted streamer
Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023
We couldn’t do what we do without the support of our incredible community of streamers, and as part of our Stream Team Spotlighted Streamer interviews we’ve talked with long-time supporter, Ashtaric!
Hey Cloè, thank you for speaking with us and for being such a valued member of the GameBlast community over the years. Please, introduce yourself.
Hi! I’m Cloè, also known as Ashtaric. I have a skill at playing games badly and my friends like to call me jammy because I always seem to solve puzzles without really solving it.
I’m a video editor as my full-time job, but I love streaming sometimes and making a podcast with my best friend. I have an adopted cat son who likes to switch off my PC whenever I’m live and makes regular appearances on the back of my chair (he’s the real reason people tune in). I stream on Twitch, playing a variety of games from Elden Ring to Spiritfarer. It’s just a bit of a giggle!
We do love a fun and cat filled stream! How long have you been streaming, and how did you get started?
Honestly, I wouldn’t consider myself a content creator, I stream as a hobby and happen to work behind-the-scenes with content creators on their YouTube channels etc, but streaming and making silly highlights from my own chaos is a form of escapism from reality for me, as well as a way for all of my friends to come together in one place to celebrate each other and games we love.
I originally started making things over 10 years ago like animations or embarrassing let’s play videos which led to job opportunities within games and events, then eventually I returned to streaming when I had a back injury in 2019 and it was one of the only ways of keeping in touch with a bunch of pals at the time.
So, it sounds like a lot of your streams are run with friends and community in mind! What is some of your favourite content to make online?
The more chaos and ridiculous premise the better.
I’m always trying to find new ways to challenge my creativity, but also make people laugh. For example, during a past GameBlast stream I challenged myself to learn Python and to start rigging up ways for my Twitch chat to have its own voice, have an AI tell me jokes, start faking bluescreens, playing Strauss at full volume over the stream, all randomly activated from each time a donation was made.
Before that I did a Marie Curie charity event where I made a pizza from scratch by letting donations choose toppings. It was a nightmare marshmallow, ice cream, vegan nugget monstrosity, but I ate the whole thing, haha!
Better you eating that pizza than us, what a nightmare! When it comes to games, what are some of your favourites and why?
Mass Effect – the entire trilogy.
Not only to me is it a staple of a silly character to my friends, but also ME for me personally was one of my first experiences where I could have a queer relationship. It wasn’t perfect, but it felt nice to have a tiny bit of openness with what I wanted to do. Being an evil character too is a big win.
Amnesia – All of them.
I love a horror game, anything that can make me physically uncomfortable just from the audio and moving pictures on a screen is just great fun. It’s also been at the centre of hilarious moments.
Games that make an emotional connection are fantastic, some other greats are Life is Strange, Spiritfarer, Journey, The Walking Dead and so many others.
You’ve got some brilliant titles in there! You’ve been fundraising for SpecialEffect for many years, so how did you hear about SpecialEffect, and why have you chosen to fundraise for us?
So, I heard about SpecialEffect back in 2015 when I started working for an events company that assisted Jagex in a few charity streams. I found out about what you do and got in contact with someone to make a one-handed game controller for my mum who has cerebral palsy which restricts her mobility in the left side of her body. We had a family Christmas of playing Journey together and seeing the joy games brought her made me want to start taking part in raising awareness and funds for SpecialEffect.
The very next year I got the events company I worked for to start doing their own GameBlast events, and eventually started doing my own.
That is beautiful, we’re so glad you and your mum were able to enjoy games together! So, what are some of your top tips for running a charity event?
Plan ahead, and plan for breaks!
Give yourself a rest, stay well hydrated and plan for streams to break. Okay the last one is mostly for me, but the main important thing is to remember that you are making a difference no matter what size, donations, viewers, content. So, look after you, because you’re important too.
When it comes to content, I like to think of it as ‘what makes me laugh?’ and ‘how can I have my chat be involved in the most fun way possible’.
Fantastic advice. Do you have any final thoughts, and can you let the readers know where to find you online?
Anyone can make a difference. You don’t need a massive following or huge donations. As little as £1 adds up and who knows, you might have activated some really loud classical music over the top of my rhythm game and made everyone laugh.
Keep being awesome.
Twitch.tv/ashtaric
YouTube.com/ashtaric
Twitter.com/xashtaricx (I know, 2010 still haunts me).
Instagram.com/ashtaric
Tiktok.com/@ashtaric
Find out more about our awesome Stream Team, and how you can stream for SpecialEffect, on our Stream Team Page.