Friday May 29, 2026


I'm hoping that the announcement of the Monster Hunter Wilds expansion is just around the corner so in preparation I made a little Youtube video about some of my hot ticket items I'd like to see included!



To start I don't think I'm alone in wanting housing. Although I do love to do some decorating, I actually really want the housing as a place to display and interact with all the endemic life I've been catching. Currently we have the tent in the Windward Plains but we don't get to decide which critters are displayed there. Additionally, the aquatic situation in particular is feeling like it's an animal rights violation with the tiny bucket we're using so I would really love to see an aquarium. I love in World that you can also feed some of your endemic life and I want that kind of whimsy to return!

One biome I'm really hankering to see is a temperate swamp. I think Monster Hunter makes some of the best swamps in video games and I really want the foggy, autumnal swamp ala Monster Hunter Freedom to join us in the Forbidden Lands. There's something eerie about the possibility of a monster jumping out at you from a foggy field with low visibility and I've been yearning for that same experience. A temperate swamp would also be the PERFECT place to add a cave system so we might see some of our cave friends (like our boy Pimento)! Some might argue that the Scarlet Forest is a tropical swamp but honestly it's more of just a rainforest with a bit of a mangrove twist and even in inclemency it doesn't give the same spooky vibe of a foggy swamp so it doesn't quite fill the same niche. Please Capcom bless us with a swamp!

Also a bit contentious is my desire for invaders to make a return. Whether we see an old favorite like Devilhjo make a comeback or get a brand new invader (though I'd definitely prefer a new monster), I think that invaders are disruptive in the best way to a hunt. They add an element of instability and danger to the hunt formula that I think is sorely lacking in Wilds as it currently stands. Technically Arkveld already seems primed to take the invader slot as it fits in with their existing behavior, but either way I'd be happy with a monster sliding in to interrupt us!

Honestly one of my gripes about Wilds is the location of our Poogie. Currently he can only be found in Suja which is a zone I quite simply don't find myself loitering in. I'm not sure if it's the narrow terrain or just the general lack of most things I need, but I rarely find myself even stopping in. Despite the scenery being lovely and the Elder Melder being in residence, I would love to see the Poogie move to an area more central than Suja and I would like to see the return of Poogie outfits. Since our Poogie currently has a frog friend I think outfits should include fashion for both of them! Also if Capcom wants to do me a solid and bring my boy Dodogama back, they could bring back the INCREDIBLE Dodogama Poogie outfit from World!

My final wishlist item is purely self-indulgent, but I'd like to have a cosmetic helm with either a dapperwing or a dazzlewing sitting on our head. I know that technically we already have 2 endemic life cosmetic helms that have animals sitting on our head but I just love the dapperwings and dazzlewings. They're easily my favorite endemic life in Wilds, are so colorful, with cute faces, and they have an amazing mating dance. Capcom just think of the easter egg you could include by having a player with the helm experience a mating dance happening on their head if they enter the Scarlet Forest! It would be so cute! I swear if we get this helm I won't wear anything else.

Hopefully we'll find out if any of my wishlist items will be a reality sometime this next week either at Sony's State of Play or at Summer Games Fest! I'll have to return once we get some concrete info and compare notes!

Friday May 8, 2026


I placed first in an IRIAM Event for the first time this week and I'm not sure that it's truly set in. When I first joined IRIAM it was largely because of the events offering a lot of cool opportunities that are harder to come by for an indie. Of course the events were competitions and that meant that nothing was ever truly guaranteed, but knowing that streamers who looked a little more like me in terms of following and reach potential were getting to have merch featured in Animate or could be featured in advertisements at Anime Expo was definitely a draw.

Early on into my streaming on IRIAM I saw how competitive ranking events could get. Unlike the more collaborative achievement events where any number of streamers could win so long as they fulfilled the event requirements (earning 150k+ stars, certain thresholds of event points, etc), the ranking events offered exciting opportunities to only the top placing streamers. Event points have a whole bunch of different metrics that go into calculating them including comments sent during streams as well as stars, but generally they are heavily weighted towards gifts. This all makes sense as gifts are essentially interactive streamer tips, and they're the only way that IRIAM makes any revenue. Viewers can earn a certain amount of free points per day so there is certainly a free-to-play element of events, but generally the more attractive the event prize, the more likely it is that viewers will be purchasing points to spend on their faves.

As a cozy streamer who doesn't tend to push monetization at all in streams, I was a little lost on how best to encourage viewers to participate in event week streams and gift without putting undue pressure on the Cottagers and ruining the cozy vibe. One thing I will say for IRIAM is that the limitations of the platform truly do breed a lot of creativity and so I didn't have to look much further than my fellow streamers to get ideas. Instead of jumping into a whole bunch of ranking events right away I waited and watched and got a feel for what I felt would and wouldn't work for the Cottagers and myself. A common theme among IRIAM streamers' event preparation posts was the offer of additional incentives. Although streamers were pushing for a particular event prize, they tended to also offer additional prizes to be won by the viewers the more event points the community achieved, or the higher up the ranking their streamer climbed. Prizes were often special streams, new art, merch, and more opportunities for chatters to get something personal from their streamer.

Because of how competitive the ranking events were, I held off on entering any until there was a prize I genuinely felt very excited about. And the first event to capture that feeling was the Animal PJs event at the end of December. The offering was your vtuber drawn in a chibi style wearing an animal onesie with Shirasu, the IRIAM mascot, wearing a matching one. The illustration would be given to the streamer to be used as they liked as well as being added into the app permanently on the streamer's channel as a gift. I knew I wanted a horse onesie but I also knew that competition would be fierce - only the top 3 streamers would get these illustrations and I wasn't usually a top ranker on the app. I decided to make a menu of incentives for the Cottagers as well as the caveat that any funds raised during the week would go toward getting an animal onesie illustration in the event that we didn't win. Horse Raz was guaranteed, but the Cottagers had the opportunity to win a bunch of other prizes if we did well in the rankings.

This has given me a kind of template to use for events that I think has turned out really well. Not just because we won the Yukata Illustration event, but because even when we ultimately "lost" the Animal PJs event the Cottagers and I "won" because we had an alternative in place that softened the blow. For the Animal PJs event the promise was that Horse Raz would happen one way or another and I offered this same compromise to the Cottagers for the Yukata event. I was honest that I wouldn't be able to afford the same artist, but we could still get cute yukata art even if we didn't win. And if we did win? The funds we raised would go toward a third outfit that I've been mentioning for the past few months - something that I think will be exciting for all of us.

I always start our event incentives low - something I think is a complete slam dunk and totally achievable for the Cottagers so that we always win something during the course of the week - usually it's a fun stream idea set to around 2500 event points which feels very doable for us. The last couple of events I've used event placement determined by the number of streamers in the event to fill out our next few incentives - often a placement that isn't last but is still lower down the ranking, somewhere close to the top but not quite there, and finally an incentive for making it into the winning slot. I try to make all the incentives fun but they increase in desirability as we move up the rankings. This way we have something to shoot for aside from just the top placements as the week goes on - especially if the ultimate prize is something that the Cottagers can't necessarily enjoy themselves like far away collab cafes or convention-specific opportunities.

Ultimately the week of the event is going to be chaotic and draining but I try to make sure that whatever streams I have planned are fun not just for my community but for myself. And I let myself have days that are slower and lower energy because realistically I cannot be high energy all the time. That just isn't me. I try not to plan streams that require giving in order to fully function because groceries are expensive and I'd rather not be putting pressure on people who are just looking for something enjoyable to watch. Instead streams are planned to be enjoyable with giving opportunities coming as a nice bonus to all the excitement. If at the end of the week we don't win but we had a lot to laugh about I'll consider it a success. I think it's important that I also enjoy the streams myself. Often it's easy to come up with something that is engaging but which also might be rather torturous for the streamer. Event weeks are stressful enough without having to dread doing some kind of batsu stream every day so instead I try to pick things I would also enjoy so that the Cottagers and I can have a blast together.

An underrated part of IRIAM events that I think needs to be stressed more is community fatigue. Now that IRIAM is ramping up the number of events each month it's extra important for me to be mindful of how often I'm asking the Cottagers to show up and be super engaged. In general I think I'd like to aim for events that happen 2+ months out from each other if possible - though I think something closer to once a quarter would be ideal. The events should also be things that I feel strongly about or have some kind of connection to that I genuinely feel I can capitalize on. This means being selective about whether an event aligns with what I'm already doing or interests I already have and for advertisement-focused events it's about asking myself whether I think those advertisements will actually help to benefit my streams or my community. I'm not a streamer with mass appeal and that's ok! That means that I'd rather have an advertisement that is more likely to bring like-minded viewers along. OshiUplink's Flyer event was a great example of Mycie, Dovely, and I deciding to pursue an event that was on the East Coast as we all tend to stream at times that folks in the same timezone as us are more likely to catch. I'd like to keep that intentionality going forward to ensure that any IRIAM events I'm in are being chosen thoughtfully and sustainably so we can keep competing for a long time to come.

In any case the Yukata Illustration event really belongs to the Cottagers. And I want to make sure that they're celebrated at each step of the process going forward - from the incentive streams, to how the prize illustration and the 3.0 outfit design are revealed. This win is less about me and more about the amazing community that lifted me up to this opportunity. I'm not sure I can thank them enough but I'll do my best to cherish every moment we have together. To many more exciting event weeks in our future - thank you from this very touched marionette. <3

Wednesday April 1, 2026

Happy April Fools!



illustration by: sylviefishin
Normally I don't really love April Fools - I think I'm too gullible for it, but I do always like doing something silly with the CozyCo girls. This year we thought - wouldn't it be cute if we all swapped outfits? A random number generator decided who got which outfit, and honestly it couldn't have picked better! Cheryl looks absolutely adorable in Mycie's mushroom fit, I'd say I make a dashing adventurer in Remi's ensemble (though not as dashing a figure as she cuts), Mycie looks so dang sweet in my blouse and skirt, and Remi honestly looks perfect in Cheryl's jumpsuit. The fates were with us in helping to create something that was not only fun, but aesthetically a hit for this year's "prank".

The CozyCoians absolutely loved it. I think everyone was charmed to see the outfits on a different model and sylvie did such a sweet job with everyone's expressions! All-in-all a complete 10/10 cozy prank for the server.

I still got got by more than my fair share of pranks, but honestly if it can be contained to a single day a year where I believe something that isn't true I'll take it. Hopefully you all got a bit of a laugh today too!

Saturday March 21, 2026

Collabs remind me why I love vtubing so much. I don't tend to do them often as I'm fairly introverted, my schedule is quite inflexible, and usually I find them to be quite stressful. I want my collab partners to have a good time and I also want my Cottagers to have a good time so it can be a bit of a juggling act to keep everything running smoothly, but truly getting to just sit and play games with someone and laugh for a few hours is the best.

The CozyCo girls are by far the easiest to collab with just because we're so familiar with each other. Having a standing invitation where we try to get together once a month to play some game or another always gives me something to look forward to and usually we just end up cracking up as we minorly terrorize each other. Today we got to play Sheepherds! together and honestly the game was quite a bit more challenging than I thought but it was hard to have anything but a good time with the girls. From group howls, Zi running around peeing on everyone, Mycie's hilariously woeful commentary about some lost straggler sheep, and Remi doing her best to carry us all through to the end of each level, it was such a fun play session. I found myself getting real quiet trying to lock in and help out but honestly I'd end up laughing about some shenanigan or another we'd managed to get ourselves into.


I'd like to get comfortable this year collabing with more people. IRIAM streams are so casual that I think they'd be a good starting place - something easy with minimal set up. Then maybe I can branch out to doing more gaming collabs but for now I'm happy just hanging with the girls. I have no idea what new adventure we'll get up to together in April but I'm positive our play session will be filled with nothing but laughter.

Friday March 13, 2026

I finally took several days off from streaming. Completely planned. No weather issues, no illness, no family events. Just me deciding not to stream on any of my platforms for the first three days of the week and it was completely weird. At first it was great! I had my lunch back to just sit in silence and do other things! I no longer had to plan out what I was going to yap about that day, but it's been so many months of streaming near daily on IRIAM plus our normal gaming streams every week that I started feeling like something was missing.

I think I need to retrain myself to take that time back. Rest is good for me. Daily streaming on IRIAM while often fun was also a struggle at times and I think it's better if I spend more quality time playing Monster Hunter or making Youtube videos or tending to my garden now that spring is right around the corner. I spent so long training my brain to get ready for streaming that now I have to train it out of that behavior. But I'll get there! This gives me more time to work on other projects I had been struggling with as well. So I think it'll be a win-win situation.

As an extreme creature of habit the disruption feels strange - a bit like knowing you're forgetting something - but it'll go away eventually. The same thing happened when I stopped raiding weekly in WoW, or when I swapped my stream nights. It just takes a little time to readjust but I'm hoping that in the next couple weeks I'll catch up with all the work that piled up around me and soon we'll be able to jump ahead to lots of cool projects! I've already got a few cooking - think you'll stick around to see them come to fruition?

Saturday March 7, 2026

One of my favorite parts of getting to live in Japan during the spring was how even for such an ephemeral season it really did feel like everyone stopped and took in the beauty of nature. Tokyo is bustling. All hours of every day there is something happening somewhere. And yet despite how busy life could feel, you'd grab a blanket, prepare some snacks, and just appreciate the season with friends.

I think we should all hanami a little more in our lives. Notice how much the snow has melted, how loud the river has gotten, how suddenly mornings are filled with birdsong, and how quickly life can pass us by when we aren't paying attention. The same can be true in other spaces as well - not just out in nature. Admire how pretty a game looks, how good a song is, or how nice your best friend's voice sounds after a long day. Truly I think it's the little things that keep us going in life.

It's far too easy to get wrapped up in big goals or encroaching deadlines and not focus on the little things that are right in front of us. I want to take time out of each day to notice the little things more. I want more snugs with Pickles. I want to laugh at my character going head over heels after a Yian Kut-Ku tailswipe while playing Freedom with my husband. I want to just sit and drink a cup of coffee and listen to new music.

I'm going to slow down this year. 2025 went fast. Far too fast. I want 2026 to be savored a little more. I want to have lunch under the cherry blossoms and then carry that hanami energy forward with me - a little petal close to my heart. Will you hanami with me too?

Friday February 27, 2026

It's honestly hard to believe that February is almost over. How is it already the 28th tomorrow? I could've sworn that the month only just started but then when I sit down to look back on things it turns out that the days have just been passing in a blur of a lot of laughter. This month was fairly hectic at work which I think also contributed to feeling like I've timeskipped through the month, but we also had a lot of activities planned.

First up was supposed to be my 4 Year Anniversary stream on the 1st but we had a snow storm that really knocked out my internet for a few weeks. Things were intermittent and although I usually had enough juice to do my general web browsing, streaming was basically out of the question. Some days I would run into no issues and other days the internet would drop out completely while I was in the middle of something - sometimes taking hours to return. Honestly I was really bummed during this period. It's not that I had planned a whole lot for the anniversary stream, but it felt sad that it just kind of fizzled out. The joys of living in the woods during inclement weather!

I didn't mean for it to, but I think that initial disappointment really put a damper on my mood for the beginning of the month. I was already falling behind in a couple of areas, and it felt like a herculean task to catch back up. Admittedly I'm still not caught up. To the Cottagers who I owe their free keychains to...I promise I'll make it to the post office eventually. Thank goodness I didn't accept payment for this round of merch or I think I'd be drowning.

Not to wallow though! Even though I've been struggling with some things I really have had a lot of fun this month! Valentine's Day is always a fun stream theme and I've acquired some really lovely assets over the years. I managed to get a new opening screen and animated emote this month and they were well-received by the Cottagers. The CozyCo Valentines release was a bit chaotic but we managed to make some really cute ones to share on Discord even though they came out at the last minute. I had fun sending them to some friends just to make them laugh. Horse Raz was a fan favorite.

We then had our CozyCo Valentine's Collab on the 21st. It was honestly a complete riot. The girls and I played the official KFC dating sim, I Love You Colonel Sanders and we picked out different characters to voice. It was ridiculous and hilarious and Remi's Colonel voice was FAR too good. I think we all also fell prey to the propaganda because by the end we were all craving chicken for lunch/dinner. Kudos KFC for making something so silly. In the end I'm pretty sure we got the middle of the road ending but we had fun dying in random spots and yelling over the absolutely wild writing. As always with the CozyCo girls, we end up having way too much fun. I'm not sure if my throat was shot from the voice acting or from laughing so hard.

Although it was supposed to come out in the middle of the month, the Hikaru Nara cover project I was part of for Meimei's birthday had to be a bit delayed and ended up coming out this past week. Honestly I'm not much of a singer but I was so touched to be asked to be part of such a special project. When we got the mix back I honestly had chills during the chorus sections. Everyone sounded so amazing together! One of my favorite parts of vtubing is that I've gotten a chance to experience things I don't think I ever otherwise would have and cover projects are a prime example of that. There are so many talented and creative people in vtubing. It's so inspiring to have a friend grab you by the virtual hand and bring you along for something fun. I hope that I'm able to offer similar opportunities for creativity to my friends in the future!

On the gaming front this month was super exciting with the release of the last major update of Monster Hunter Wilds. Arch-Tempered Arkveld is super fun and the music is an absolute banger. The violinist went above and beyond - absolute cinema. The solo Nadia quest to beat 9 star Gore completely humbled me. I spent a full stream carting to him and had to go back to the drawing board a bit. I got it down in the end but it was a good reminder that there are plenty of aspects of my play that need cleaning up. I've been kind of coasting in 4-player with the help of the Cottagers but I think I might need to spend some more time solo locking in.

That said we have a completely ridiculous slime quest to complete this weekend that I've already done once with Razband. It was just as silly as I had hoped and I look forward to getting devoured alongside the Cottagers! As a consolation prize I'll be amped to see which pendant colors I get. Which reminds me that I still need to go back to the egg carry quest for the final baby Rey Dau pendant. I want to make sure that I hit all of the event quests before they're gone. I'm sure once the Arkveld Free Challenge Quest comes out I'll be focused on trying to get an A-rank over there so it would be nice to get most of the other quests out of the way earlier.

This past week also kicked off the OshiUplink Flyer Event on IRIAM. It was a bit of a last minute decision but after chatting with Mycie and Dovely we decided to go for it to see if we could get on the poster together. Nothing is set in stone yet, but everyone has been doing so much to lift all three of us up! We've been off to a great start and I've got my fingers and toes crossed that we'll be able to make it to the finish line together! It will be nice to have a presence at an east coast convention. OffKai is really cool but it's hard to catch west coast folks during morning and midday streams. If nothing else we've had a lot of fun brainstorming prizes and just yapping with each other about how the event is going. Do things with your friends y'all. It makes competitions so much more fun! Honestly more than the poster I'm just looking forward to the potential of Team 7 Cosplay art with the three of us. It's too silly of an idea for my brain to give up.

Now that I look back - it's actually been an extra hectic month! I got to do so many fun things and although it started off a little tough, I'm really thankful that I've been using vtubing as my creative outlet for 4 years. These past 6+ months with IRIAM especially kicked my inspiration back into gear. I wasn't ever doing monthly goals, or thinking about big events, or participating in collabs as frequently before. I want to work more on creating a better online and offline balance, but I'm thankful for this hobby for connecting me with so many people and giving me space to find a lot of joy.

Cheers to an honestly really fun February. I can't wait to see what March has in store for us~

Friday February 20, 2026

Egg Delivery quests are the closest I think I'll ever get to playing a horror game and enjoying it. In most games I don't like being chased. I'm not sure I like it in Monster Hunter either but I do find them fun even when I get jumped by a genprey one step away from a loading screen into a safe zone. Sure in the moment I'm sad staring at the remains of my delivery but I don't dread these quests.


These carry quests are a nice change of pace. Sure I could go on a complete killing spree and try to take out all the monsters nearby. Sometimes I do, but other times I see how far I can push it. I've never been good at stealth missions in games though. So the jury is still out on how well I manage to actually push the envelope and how much is just me being emboldened by past successes - ignoring all my numerous failures.


There's something extra special about making it though. Hustling through the wilderness, our hunter huffing and puffing, probably sweating as a Rathian closes in. But the drop off point looms and with a dip, a duck, a dodge we manage to set the egg down unscathed. Then we usually have to head out for another one.


When Monster Hunter Wilds announced a Monster Hunter Stories 3 collab I knew an egg carry quest was coming. Although you CAN deliver eggs in Wilds, you're never really asked to and certainly not required to trek up to a Rathian's nest to snatch one. At Easter time last year I did it just for the laughs, but there's something far more fun about an official quest where the monsters are on high alert. Nearly every time I picked up an egg in this one I had something charging at me - Rathian (sometimes two), Rathalos, Doshaguma, Lala Barina - if it lived in the forest it was coming for those eggs. They weren't even eggs that belonged to those monsters! I guess with almost all young being born from eggs, anyone carrying one starts to look like a kidnapper.


I had a lot of fun with the quest. I've managed to unlock two of the three pendants you get from bringing back the extra potent eggs - Gravios & Chatacabra. Now I just need to secure Rey Dau and I'll have gotten the whole set. I might come back to the quest again when I need a bit of excitement - a little extra adrenaline to spice up my hunts. The hair on the back of my neck will stand on end when my palico yells that we've been spotted and I notice my Ghille Mantle is down. We'll just have to leg it and hope that our nearest camp hasn't been taken out of commission. I'm not much for horror but this cat and mouse game will do just fine.

Sunday February 8, 2026

Did you know I spent years convincing myself not to play Monster Hunter because I was resolute in my belief that I wouldn't like it? Kind of silly to think about but I've always been picky. I find I like something and then I don't want to try anything else because I'm having so much fun just doing the thing that I like. But sometimes it keeps me from discovering other things I'd like - like Monster Hunter. In my mind I loved playing Unholy Death Knight in WoW and that was all the combat I needed. For downtime I just wanted to spend time in Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing. I felt like I didn't need anything else.

To be fair I'm not sure that I did need anything else. But being open to the possibility I think is important too. Eventually I gave up on WoW and suddenly I was without the complex melee combat I had come to adore. I tried to simply delve deeper and deeper into farming sims, but it wasn't quite the same. And while initially fun, New Horizons didn't have the same feel as the original Animal Crossing I had loved so much. I started streaming because I was mainly playing single-player games but that was incredibly lonely after spending so much time in online communities. I became a vtuber because while most people on the internet are weird in a wonderful way, some are weird in a way that made me feel unsafe. And then one day my husband convinced me that I really needed to give Monster Hunter another try. And here we are.

If you're like me and you enjoy being comfortable, there is no shame in that. But sometimes there are new comfort zones to explore and the only way to find them is with a little discomfort. Like with this website. It's a little clunky right now. The ways of the old web are like an old friend you haven't spoken to in a long time - familiar and yet alien all wrapped up into one. It feels a bit cringe to write out thoughts like this, but also it feels important! To me! With time it'll become a little more comfortable to just write and be and share. I'd like to share how much I've been enjoying Monster Hunter and have a place to collect all the things I like. A new comfort zone to hunker down into but for now it'll be a bit uncomfy as I get over this learning curve.

This site will be a landing pad for my streaming activities. An all-in-one spot for Cottagers to see what we've been up to in our adventures so far, keep an eye on exciting events, and look over what we've got on the horizon. And this blog section will be for me to put thoughts down. Maybe one week it'll be about how cool I think the architecture in the Iceshard Cliffs is, or why I think it's a bit odd that the wild Popos of Hoarfrost Reach let you just hop on their backs. A place to ramble or ruminate or research. I'd like to write something once a week if I can! And over time the site will grow - a bit like tending a garden. It won't always be about Monster Hunter. It might be about other games we play or media we experience together as a community. The Monster Hunter teams have put so much love into that franchise over the years that it seems like an easy place to slot in and explore. So cheers to the start of the blog!