When you think of Twitch, what comes to mind? Do you think of Ninja, the proverbial face of the platform? Do you think of Pokimane, a generally laid-back streamer with “an army of simps”? Perhaps a certain vibe comes to mind, one that embodies a laid-back, amateur appeal of some person trying to gather an audience to watch them play games. Any of these things would be correct, as Twitch tends to be a collection of many different things.
A week into November, I found someone with an energy I don’t typically enjoy watching. Energetic, zany, and prone to loud profanities—akin to many old-school YouTube let’s players of yesteryear. Wanting to watch someone play Metroid Prime, however, I took a shot on a hot-shot streamer with a passion for being a Pro Gamer™. That one stream provided me the motivation to come back again (and again (and again (and again))).
Introducing Excelion96. (← Link to his Twitch channel.)
Do not be fooled by the Twitch username. He may have it attached to him, but Gabe is Gabe. Mr. Gaberino, Gabilicious, Gabrielle, Gabernicus. Excelion96 is but a facade, testing those that should come in with some unknown vendetta. In reality, there is only one Gabe—one that is either raging at FPS games or recklessly blazing through Breath of the Wild as if he has 500+ hours in the game.
What a Gabe he is, too. Bouncy, yell-y, affectionate-y. One of the most emotionally open individuals I know. He tells me he loves me about eight times per stream, and almost everyone in chat about eight times per stream. He wants all the love, all the snacks, all the games; the entire stream is one big party.
I cannot stress enough just how chaotic a Gabe stream can be. He can start with Apex Legends, then switch to Call of Duty: Warzone, then go back to Apex Legends—all in the span of an hour. Running around in Breath of the Wild, headshotting silver enemies with ease, then stumbling to roll a snowball down a hill to knock over some makeshift bowling pins. Singing, dancing, typing sound commands in chat, aggressively eating on the mic, roleplaying as Pichu… such only scratches the surface.
None of this would be possible if Gabe was not completely within his element. To my knowledge, he’s been streaming on a generally consistent basis for over three years. Being in front of the camera, feeding off the power of his chat, and mastering the aura of The Gamer™. It’s almost weird to say he’s “professional,” as he absolutely does not fit the moniker. Even so, the entertainment value to each stream is indicative of the comfort he has with being at the center of attention.
Readers of this blog know me as “Kapodaco” or “That asshole.” In Gabe streams, my identity shifts to “Taco.” This is appropriate given I am just a soft white shell with nothing but meat and cheese inside. He is the only streamer to look at “Kapodaco” and not immediately revert it to “Kapo”—no, Gabe is more villainous than that. He saw “daco” and immediately thought of its closest food-related rhyme. Such is the mind of insanity.
In some ways, you could say his greatest contribution to Twitch is how little he cares about formalities. He has no intro where he reads off a bio of himself he wrote at 2 a.m. to new viewers (to my knowledge). There is no “Hello, friend!” in chat when someone familiar arrives—try “OMG [name]!!! ILY, KISS ME !fart.” Gabe streams are as much a Twitch stream as they are a Discord server hangout space. Rarely do I ever find a spot on the site that I can say that about.
If it’s come to a point where I’ve made it seem as though this stream is nothing but a bunch of tomfoolery and goofs—good. That’s about as straightforward as I can make it. Though it should be noted that Prof. Gabe certainly cares about the wellbeing of his chat and audience (probably). As unconventional as he is, there was never a point where I felt a large disconnect from either him or the vibe of the stream. “Taco” is a badge of friendship that he bestowed unto me, even as a poor soul lost in the jungle of Twitch’s Browse queue.
Actually, I take that back; Gabe thinks Metroid Prime 2 is better than the first game (lmfao).
Whether Nintendo classics or a flurry of shootey-shootey games, Gabe is a fan of fun. As long as the fun is in sight, he’s a happy man, just as Reggie intended. Cocky and fast-paced, the bonafide gamer juice flowing within his physical form energizes the vessel and allows for absurd abilities. Whether the power of his melodic opera tunes or his affinity for picking on chat with a mischievous snicker, Gabe is truly one of a kind. I’m overjoyed to have discovered him playing my favorite (and best) game of all time.
If any of this has made you interested, I would highly encourage checking out Excelion96 on Twitch. If you want to catch him outside of it, you can follow him on Twitter or something. I don’t know him to do much outside of that.
For all other Twitch streamer odes, check out the Twitch Streamer Highlight Reel.
Be sure to stop by on the 15th for the next edition of the month’s Twitch streamer shoutout post!
Thank you for your time. Have a great day.
The Visualist's Veranda 
gabe is awesome and so is your writing ❤