The prior entry was a substantial step back from current times. With today’s subject, we’re at the very least within the current year. Ironically enough, how I stumbled upon this streamer and the one linked prior was the same: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. (Might be one of my favorite games to watch.)
Mid-July. It’s been several months since I became unemployed and desperately searching for something to ease the bleeding of my finances. Discouraged from the lack of opportunities, I again turn to Twitch to find something entertaining to distract me from my pessimism. Usually, avatars are more likely to pull me in to a stream, but there was a particular whimsy to one streamer’s name that had me hooked just from the absurdity of it.
Introducing MollyNotTheDrug. (← Link to her Twitch channel.)
What a title. It only leads me to believe that there have been many puns made upon the “Molly” name, which encouraged her to lean into it. Or she did it because she thought it was funny. Or because she couldn’t come up with anything else. I can respect any such theory.
Lots of Twitch streamers I regularly tune into have a certain vibe to them. Chaotic, trying-to-be-but-aren’t-really-chaotic, chill, informative, or wholesomely high-energy. Molly is a sort of outlier to the typical streamer make-up that I’m accustomed to. She’s jokey, but not astutely so; she’s chill, but also sort of clumsy. Simultaneously both seemingly frail and headstrong. A bizarre concoction of contrasting energies swirling around a single person as though she’s a basin for personality.
More than all, however, is that she almost comes off as… regal? There exists an almost high-class conduct she holds herself up to in the way she speaks and addresses people. That is until the appropriately contrasting sentiment shines through and counteracts what I expect from her behavior. Regardless, I can sense that she’s tremendously well-spoken and intelligent beyond what she may showcase during stream. Not to say she’s inept, just that she can be, as mentioned, somewhat clumsy with things.
For example, some weeks after I started joining in on streams, she began to implement redemptions to her channel. One would think, “Okay, so things to make her hydrate or stretch or play soundbytes, right?” No. She implemented various reactionary options for users to redeem upon specific moments that occur onscreen. Like, say, you see a catty female character taking intense action. You then redeem the “***girlboss alert***” redeem, which does nothing but acknowledge you see a girlboss onscreen.
A perfect encapsulation of this meme, but it’s also delightfully her own take that it comes off as endearing.
When it comes to games, Molly is a connoisseur of only the finest options. Paper Mario aside, she also fancies some Soulsborne titles and JRPGs. This may seem fairly standard, but what if I told you she has also indulged in Style Savvy: Trendsetters and Neopets.com? Truly, there is no point in place that can acutely infer her specific play style. All games are on the table, except a replay of Banjo-Kazooie, which she has streamed and considers actual trash. (Her opinions are fun, too!)
While I mean absolutely no disrespect, I will now take this time to highlight the actual reason you should attend Molly’s streams: Billie. An adorable feline that will make periodic cameos on stream and showcase their affection by laying on her computer monitor/keyboard and rubbing against the mic. A showstopper in waiting, with the kind of pizzazz that lights up a whole room. There is a redemption specifically for whenever Billie appears onscreen. It’s spammed without question.
Whatever sort of energy that may come across, it’s always fun catching up with the antics of chat or Molly’s commentary on a given situation. Vividly I recall the sort of bizarre fantasies being thrown out about how Mario characters actually gel with one another, in ways that wouldn’t be generally conceived. And then there was the time where Molly was inspired to check the Neopets message boards and have someone dunk on her pets. (Apparently they are still active!)
Again, it’s always a gamble with what is to be expected entering any given stream. Perhaps it will be chill, with Molly and chat reacting accordingly to the mood of the game or its events. And perhaps it will be bizarre, like a stream dedicated to playing some obscure Wii game that Molly will try to corrupt by incorporating real-world logic and political situations into the mix to provide humor. It’s always fun.
Though the time has not been terribly long, and her last stream has been a while (a month, due to school workload, I presume), I’ve come to really respect Molly and enjoy when she does go live. There’s no one I follow that’s quite as flexible as she is in their character, and now I can say I’ve attended a Style Savvy stream! Though she doesn’t seem like a terribly serious streamer, I’ll look forward to whatever she may have in store for the future.
If any of this has made you interested, I would highly encourage checking out MollyNotTheDrug on Twitch. To catch up with her outside of Twitch—good luck, because I can’t seem to find any trace!
For all other Twitch streamer odes, check out the Twitch Streamer Highlight Reel.
If reading this compelled you to give me a dollar, feel free to tip me on Ko-fi.
Thank you for your time. Have a great timezone.
The Visualist's Veranda 