About My Twitch

I was previously known as MirikaHL (HL: Hobbit Lass), having broadcasted on Twitch as a part-time hobbit, part-time goblin. I have left these days behind me and now I am full-time myself, a humanoid idiot who is very normal about Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3.

About my PNG-Tubers!

MirikaD20
My current appearance is actually... quite literally me! I want to be truer to myself instead of being known for my hobbit or goblin self. As much as my hobbit and goblin reflect different parts of me, nothing is more me than... well, me! I also wanted to rebrand completely in general and this seemed the way; it reflects what my temporary return was for and I've honestly been so obse... uhhh, NORMAL about Astarion these last couple of months, it seems absolutely fitting!Also, since I cannot get a hold of username "Mirika" I might as well just reflect my love for D&D instead of having a vague acronym that needs to be explained ever so often.

MirikaHL
Everyone has grown to know me as Mirika despite having broadcasted as goblin for most of my Twitch career, but did you know that Mirika is actually the name I use for my hobbit self? Besides, I tend to joke I am a hobbit in real life anyway (other than the fact that Mirika has been my nickname since I was like... 13 or so?).Mirika Hobbit Lass represents the cosier side of me, and of course my love for food is reflected well in hobbits. Another fun fact, her name including surname is actually... Mirika Barefoot. Yeah, not spectacular, but here's a little info you never asked for, haha!

Lauriem
In case you read the above, you might be wondering: well, what is the name of your goblin self then? It's Lauriem! Heck, all my friends in World of Warcraft know me as Lauriem and would not always know I am Mirika in most online spaces.Lauriem represents the more chaotic side of me, because despite not dealing well with chaos, we all have had a little too much caffeine at some point right? ...no? Oh.I've chosen to represent as goblin for the longest time because I did intend to stream more World of Warcraft, but never actually did. I also chose goblin over hobbit, despite feeling more hobbitual than goblinoid, because I felt like it would be more unique. Rather silly if you think about it now, and I've often had regrets for this choice, hence going part-time goblin, part-time hobbit. It was very fun actually! But people remember me too strongly as my goblin self now... Ah well. I love Lauriem regardless.

Fun fact about Lauriem and MirikaHL!I never got around to writing actual lore for my PNG-Tubers, mostly because I am not at home within the Vtuber community, but I did have a very mild headcanon about the two being part-timers.I have art of Lauriem as a Digimon creature because I love Digimon so very much. She is a goblin, and there is a Goblimon. I've very often seen people make fake Digimon variants like Angewomon OC's and I figured... maybe there are two Goblimon variants! The male will always turn into the normal Goblimon, and females turn into Lauriem! I have always been hesitant about how to refer to her. Gobliwomon? Gobwomon? LassGoblimon? LadyGoblimon? I never got around to it.Image below is Rookie and Champion.

So what I figured is... what if MirikaHL is a Digimon Tamer and this goblin Digimon is her Digimon! Of course she wields a large hammer to BONK people with, it all makes sense.But I never got around making this actual lore. I figured it would just be fun to share with you all what I had been considering, especially because I love love love what the artist did with Lauriem for this. It truly captures the essence of Lauriem and Digimon.Maybe one day I will commission Mirika and her Digimon. I already have the perfect artist in mind (one that has drawn me with Angewomon before). We shall see.

Let's end with the topic about Twitch: why I started streaming, why I've quit, all that.I started streaming in February 2019. I thought it would seem fun to be playing video games and potentially have someone see me do my thing, maybe even chat with me. I wanted to share my hobby with others, so-to-say, and I can be a bit of a social creature despite my introvertedness. I was inspired by another small streamer who had such a lovely community despite averaging 10 viewers or less. I figured that if they can make such a lovely space with each other, maybe I can try this too, especially because streaming from the PS4 was so easy: all you had to click was the "share" button. Well... why not bother with it then?So my journey started. Naturally it came with no viewership, but that was alright, I kept going. I always told myself, and I still do: it only takes one chatter to have a good time, because I streamed for mostly a social reason. I also am quite well at talking to myself hahaha, so I could keep going without an audience for a while. This went on until roughly July 2020, where my viewership was stable enough to hit Affiliate status. I felt like I made it and I could finally have the thing I lowkey obsessed over: GETTING EMOTES! I always loved the idea of having my own emotes.Again, I waddled on, did my thing, made friends on Twitch by also visiting other channels, and in 2022 I got severely interested in Stream Raiders. I was heavily invested in a specific Stream Raiders captain; he taught me so much, I decided to become a captain myself; this helped by channel by a lot for a time, and it was really fun! I loved planning out battle tactics and see our little armies win.However, around these times it started to feel like the social side of Twitch started to die out: Twitch was changing. I stopped feeling like I was sharing my hobby and having a chat while doing it; silent lurking became more common. Again, lurkers are greatly appreciated, but I was never streaming for channel growth (which lurkers are a solid backbone for!), but I needed that social part that I started streaming for to begin with. It was really hard to keep myself motivated at times, which is why in 2023 I did end up cutting ties as a streamer on Twitch. It was... hard, but a lot better for me. There were also other reasons for my decisions that I am less public about because it's too tied to my own feelings and struggles. Either way, it does feel like a relief that I've quit; Twitch truly started to feel more like obligation than pleasure.I've made great friends on Twitch, absolutely. Some I still chat with now, and the ones that are streamers themselves I obviously still visit myself. I have a Discord server that I keep alive to stay in touch with people, and I am still using my Twitch handle on various social media; I actually have been trying to be more active there since I quit streaming.However, that did not keep me away from making a temporary return for Baldur's Gate 3. I truly wanted to beat Honour Mode and honestly... I did not wish to suffer in silence. I needed witnesses, haha. Besides, it gave me the excuse to rebrand and get a new PNG-Tuber, one that represents me as myself, and self-indulge by adding my favourite character to the PNG-Tuber. Besides, I have friends who are really hopeful I return to Twitch, so that did motivate me to make this temporary return, and just the knowledge it's temporary.For any milestones on Twitch, they are on my profile (I want to keep them there), but also:
- February 27, 2019 - first stream EVER
- July 9, 2020 - became Twitch affiliate
- May 8, 2022 - became Stream Raiders captain
- June 19, 2022 - got raided by insym, woah!
- June 21, 2022 - became Stream Raiders affiliate
- July 1, 2022 - released first skin (flag bearer) in Stream Raiders
- July 9, 2022 - we unlocked all possible emote slots as affiliate, thank you!
- November 11, 2022 - released first full skin (vampire) in Stream Raiders
- October 7, 2023 - first ever subathon
- October 8, 2023 - finished our 24 hour capped subathon, reached a 1.000 streamed hours milestone, and said goodbye as a streamer
April 1, 2024 - temporary return to streaming
April 10, 2024 - I beat Baldur's Gate 3 in Honour Mode on stream!

Message I wrote at the time:
Everyone who supported me during my subathon finale.The image does not list all the people I am grateful for, these are just the people who supported my subathon finale on October 7/8.I adore all of you, whether your name is on this or not. All of you supported me one way or another. Following, lurking, chatting, dropping units in my Stream Raiders... all of it is appreciated. I'm sobbing as I write this right now. I have closed a huge chapter of my life, I streamed from 2017 to 2023. I have so many fond memories.I want to thank every single one of you. I cannot describe what I am feeling. I am very grateful for these six years on Twitch.Please remember: I am still around. I am still on Twitch as a viewer. I use Discord a lot. You can find me on Steam, social media, inside video games... please do not hesitate to contact me! Quitting as a streamer is by no means wanting to cut ties with any of you. I hope you all realize this.I truly, truly adore you. Part of me is truly wondering if I made a mistake, but only time can tell; at the moment I am too hurt. I adore you all.

*My profile on Twitch is mostly kept alive in case I have a change of heart and want to return as a streamer fully.