Premium Interview: @A_K_Nyx

1.) What is the one thing you love about your community?

My community is one of the most accepting and loving communities I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know. Through thick and thin, they’ve stuck by me and made me feel so supported in every way. They don’t care about my orientation or my family’s makeup, they don’t care about my illnesses. I’m just “that bitch” who is okay at games, but we have a wonderful time! We’ve even done some amazing charity fundraisers throughout the years because their care doesn’t stop at me, but others who need it.

2.) How did you get into content creation/gaming?

I actually started by happenstance. My account was made to stream for my friend, Trever, while he worked the overnight shift at a car parts factory as he was in desperate need for entertainment. Both the wife and I would stream our perspectives on Destiny and talk with him throughout the night. I’d even started to pick up some traction, but while working as a Nursing Coordinator, my schedule demanded more of my time and I was too stressed to devote my attention outwardly. Fast forward to 2018 when the wife and I bought our computers and started streaming again more consistently, affiliate followed that same week, and fell into it! When my job let me go, I went to Twitch full time. My health has taken me away at times, but I’ve made a lot of strides in the last few months and am really pushing to try and get that elusive checkmark!

3.) What was the best video game and worst video game you have ever played? Why?

That’s a really hard question to answer, almost akin to asking me what breath is my favorite! I’d have to say, at this particular moment in time, Conan Exiles is my favorite game because of the roleplay potential and the copious mods that bring the characters of my imagination to life! At another time, I’d have said Destiny 1. As for the worst…Mordhau. The response I got to joining was abysmal, and the community is one of the most toxic I’ve ever encountered.

4.) If you could collab with a community or influencer, who would it be?

I’d really love to be able to collaborate with another Hidden Gem creator! A lot of the time, it feels like if you’re battling with an illness or a disability to overcome, there’s not a seat at the table for you because health demands so much. But to have someone else who really understands that pain, I feel like that’s something we could bond over and perhaps do fundraising with to make a difference! There are several programs that are near and dear to my heart and having another person in that space would help to, not only bring more awareness, but really do a lot of good.

5.) Who inspired you to start creating content or continues to inspire you?

My kids are the reason I continue to stream, actually, as this has given me a means to keep working despite my diminishing health. It gives me the freedom to be available to be involved with them and their school activities, emergencies, and the like. They make me strive to be a better creator, and a mom they’d be proud to claim if it came up in conversation.

6.) What is something you want people to know about you?

I’m a performing arts person through and through. If there’s music, or dance, or theatre performances you want to talk about, I can and will carry on that conversation until I’m blue in the face and you’re probably sick of my voice. But it’s a passion of mine and one I pursued until I physically couldn’t manage anymore. If you can speak with me on anything revolving around that, we’ll become the fastest of friends swapping musical tastes back and forth!

7.) We have gone 5 years into the future, what does your content look like?

My content in the future revolves around inclusion, storytelling and safety. Ideally, I’ll have some games modded so I can better teach others with epilepsy how to enjoy their favorite games that don’t come with standard accessibility features to limit such. I’ll have a warm corner filled with people under the LGBTQIA2S+ umbrella collaborating with each other and finding lifelong game partners. Hopefully, I’ll have a reputation of bringing compelling characters with obstacles to overcome that people can relate to and see themselves within.

I want a place that a younger Nyx would’ve been at home in when she first joined Twitch, as so many communities felt like they just didn’t have a place for me, and in some ways, that still holds true.

8.) What advice would you give to the next new creator that you wish you were given?

Turn off your view count. It doesn’t matter if there’s one person or hundreds, you should have a good time. The age old addage of “if you build it, they will come” applies to your stream and community! If you create the vibe and content you love and are confident with, others will respond to that and stop in. If you are stressing about the viewer count and worried about who is or isn’t there, you’re not focused on those who are or the rest of the content you’re playing.

9.) You get to go on a vacation anywhere. Where do you go and what’s the first thing you eat/drink?

The place that I’ve always wanted to go to and haven’t been able thus far is Hobbiton in New Zealand! I’m a huge Lord of the Rings fan, so the idea of being able to see the hobbit houses just fills me with so much joy. They’ve got a place included called the “Green Dragon Inn” that I just want to sit at and eat whatever they’ve got while drinking a pint.