Hey Scarlett, nice to chat with you today. To get us started, would you mind telling me a little bit about your character’s lore?
I’ll begin with my name. I’m Anntarra Scarlett. I am a Celestial Scorpion Princess. I come from the Star Antares. Which is actually a, you know, a real star in the Scorpio Galaxy. But I am a scorpion being, and inside the star Antares, there’s actually a civilization of other scorpion-like folk like me.
I’m a princess from there, I accidentally started a war, yes, yes I did. I was on a trip to a neighbouring star and I petted someone’s face with my tail because it’s how we say hi, but they didn’t understand that and a war broke out. Then, you know. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
I actually love that lore. So you accidentally started a war through a cultural misunderstanding?
Mm hmm. And it’s also the reason why I got sent here to Earth by my father, the king. You know. On a cultural exchange program.
So you got in trouble with your dad, okay? Got it. Got it. Got it.
Daddy issues, yeah.
There are obviously a lot of animals, characters, and types of beings that are very popular in the VTubing sphere, and I’m always really interested when I meet someone who has something that I haven’t seen many people have. I’m curious what, what made them choose that. So for you, it’s the scorpion part, obviously, not the princess part. What made you choose a scorpion?
Well, not gonna, I was gonna be a cat at first. Yeah. We were all gonna be cats at first.
We were all gonna be cats at first!
Then I’m like, oh my God, here’s a cat. There’s a cat. And no offence against cats, you know, Vtubers. I’ve always liked scorpions, I used to have like a little mounted scorpion and a little glass paperweight that I would just look at for hours because there was glitter in it and it moved. Also because I’m a Scorpio, like, actually, too. So, it plays on my zodiac sign.
Oh, that’s a really nice tie-in. I like that. I like that a lot.
I think there should be more Zodiac-based lore, you know?
Yeah, I agree. I agree.
So, As a kind of spoiler, I do plan on getting a 3D model.
Oh, she’s going 3D?
Mm hmm. And it will be a Scorpy cat. A Scorpy cat? Yes, a Scorpion cat. Because I get told I do have cat energy. I don’t know what that means. No one has ever told me I have scorpion energy, though, so.
It’s funny that you’re talking about cat energy when I currently have a cat desperately trying to get my attention right next to me. You actually have like a really detailed and interesting lore. I know that lore is something that seems to be sort of falling away a little bit in the indie VTubing. What kind of led you to getting into VTubing and getting into that world?
Uh, well, my path was a little bit untraditional, I guess, considered to most. Before I started VTubing, I really didn’t know what Twitch or a VTuber was. But I was going through a hard time in life and I was just one night watching YouTube before bed and I found a VTuber. I didn’t know they were called a VTuber at that time, but I was like, oh, they’re funny, you know? I thought to myself, “Can I do this?”, Do I have the ability to cheer people up by, you know, because I know other people have gone through tough times, and I just wanted to do something.
Aww, that’s such a sweet story for getting into VTubing. Aww. So before you encountered that VTuber you had no real knowledge of VTubing at all?
No. I knew of one because of a Project Diva game.
That’s really, really interesting. I’m guessing that means you didn’t really know a lot of the corporate VTubers when you started.
Not, not at all. No, I didn’t even know there were big giant VTubing companies.
Did you get into corporate VTubers after VTubing, or are you still someone who mostly only kind of knows the indies?
I mostly know the indie ones.
I wouldn’t say I’m l not interested in corporate. When I hear of them I’m like, oh, they seem like, like they have a nice vibe, you know,
Obviously, you’ve come quite a long way from not even knowing what VTubing is to where you are now. What are the biggest challenges you face in Vtubing?
Technology. Technology, big time. If there’s any person who shouldn’t know about technology, it would be me because I didn’t know what Twitch was. I’m not a VTuber, not a computer person.
I’m also an introvert. I am very introverted. So, when I started streaming, I was the most shy. Yeah, once I hit live, I was like, “Okay, so I’m who am I going to talk to? What do they want from me?”
How did your first stream go?
My first stream was, I didn’t know I was supposed to make a debut. I didn’t know that was a thing. I played Pokemon Smash or Pass. Then, I blue-screened. My laptop blue-screened. Because a Lenovo think pad that is provided by your work should not be used for streaming.
How did you pick yourself up from that?
Well, I was working full time at that time, like, 60 hours overtime, basically. But I was on a couple of servers on Discord. I had to learn what Discord was, but I joined a big VTuber discord, and there were people who said I should give it another shot.
They came to my stream and supported me and without their support, I don’t think I would be still VTubing. Honestly, I still talk to my 1st follower.
That’s so awesome!
Yeah, because I started on YouTube and they followed me from YouTube to Twitch. I gave them VIP instantly.
Oh yeah, What a cutie! So, you’ve come from not knowing VT tubers, to blue screens of death, to where you are now. What do you think your future in VTubing will be like? What are you hoping for?
I would love to be in a group, like a V YouTuber group, except I’ve auditioned for many and never made it into any. I would love to do more like art streams ’cause I recently got into like live 2D rigging. People are amazed that I’ve learned it that fast, but I spent every day for the last three months learning something new, even if it’s small.
Wow, that’s commitment. Rigging’s such a useful skill to have though.
It is. It started with me wanting to rig my own model because it is expensive. I wanted to give others the opportunity, you know? It’s really, really, really awesome. I wouldn’t say I have a unique style, I would say I’m a culmination of a lot of YouTube tutorials.
I think most people are with most skills, at least at first nowadays. That’s, that’s how we learn a lot of things, isn’t it?
It is. Including VTubing. Like, the other day I was learning how to make tongue physics. Yes, tongue physics is a thing. You can stick out your tongue, and when you move your head to the left or right, your tongue waggles.
That’s crazy, I love seeing the things that riggers have to do!
I love seeing people’s, uh, models bald, you know.
I like seeing when people discover their model’s teeth.
I’ve never seen that, but oh my, my stars. I never really thought about it, but most models have teeth and you don’t see them very often. It’s so weird as an amateur rigger, that I sometimes pay attention to the models I’m watching more than I do the stream. It’s really interesting. I honestly have a friend who wanted to make their own Live2D model, but then they learned about all the layering and said “I ain’t doing this, I’ll, I’ll pay somebody.”
I love seeing it. It’s awesome. And you want to go 3D as well?
I want to go 3D, and still keep my 2D model, but I think streaming games and VR would be cool.
That is one of the big advantages of having a 3D model, isn’t it?
I honestly have a VR headset, but I have not used it. Not once. It’s so weird I speak of having a 3D model because I started as a like, maybe a Vroid model, you know?
How did you feel about your Vroid model?
Looking back on it, it took a lot of work, and it was still hideous, in my opinion. But I’ve seen awesome Vroid models. I wasn’t doing it right.
You mentioned that down the line you’d like to join a VTuber group and you said you’ve done auditions and things. What would you hope to get out of joining a group or an agency?
Just to be surrounded by like-minded people, we could just bounce ideas off of each other. A professional professional community because I literally do everything. Well, I do have mods, but the stream setup and the ideas are. I have to think of it all.
I know you do a reasonable amount of collabs for streams. Do you have any rules you set down when doing collabs with people?
So far, no, because I usually stream with people I already have talked to previously. I don’t remember the last time I streamed with someone I hadn’t talked to before.
We’re coming to the end of the year, and towards the end of the year, most people start reflecting, I think, on their VTubing journey. What has been your favourite memory from VTubing over the past year?
Dang, asking the big questions, right? Well, first and foremost, my community, they’re awesome, they’re just wonderful. I don’t know, just all the fun, silly little moments that go into streams and stuff and yes, there is scuff, but at this point, I’ve learned to laugh at it along with my community and we just have fun. Some of them are goblins, but we get along.
You need your goblins, you need that, you need that. Keeps the spice in the community.
It really does, especially like, when I do Crowd Control streams. Yes, and those are fun, especially when someone is a goblin, they will drive you insane.
For people who haven’t used Crowd Control, describe for us what an average Crowd Control stream feels like for you.
Crowd Control is an integration with a game that a viewer has where they can make an action happen in the game that can either hurt you or help you. Usually, it’s hurt you. But, I’ve been doing Subnautica a lot with crowd control. First time playing Subnautica. There’s one called the Open the PDA, and it’s a very cheap redeem. So they can spam the sh*t out of that, and it just opens your PDA.
That’s so annoying, I’d kill people.
Yes, I, yeah, I wanted to. I accidentally beached my Seamoth. I got in it, I went to back up, and it opened, so I hit up for some reason, I just drove onto land. And I think my response was “Really, you want to watch me spend the next hour trying to get this thing off of the dirt. Okay. Sure.”
I know you’re really interactive with your community. How would you describe your content?
I would say chaotically cosy. Because yeah, there’s a lot of interaction, but it’s not Gremlin energy. It’s more of a welcoming, just have fun together kind of vibe. Like, it’s very welcoming. It’s very friendly Also, I wouldn’t say, I would say I’m seiso. Some people don’t say I’m seiso because I describe my content as 18 plus, but also seiso. In my opinion, 18 plus seiso is going to be different than like, 13 plus seiso because there’s a big age gap between 13 and 18. So, what you thought was like, seiso at 13, it’s not going to be the same as something seiso when you’re 18.
What has been your favourite on-stream game?
Probably sounds really basic, but Fortnite.
Why Fortnite?
Because a lot of people will come and just talk about the history of Fortnite. I have some viewers who I didn’t expect them to play Fortnite at all, and they’re like, “Hey, could I join you eventually?” and I am like “You play Fortnite?” I just did not know that.
That’s awesome. I feel like lots of people play Fortnite casually now. I am actually going to be playing it for the first time this week.
You see, I have ADHD, which I guess I need some, like, action to be considered cosy. Because my ADHD is, oh my god, I cannot play Minecraft. It needs to be chaotic in Minecraft for me to be having a fun time. Just to add my favorite game to just play would be Resident Evil 4. I never knew I would like Resident Evil.
Are you a horror game person?
Not really, no.
Why did you play it then? What made you pick it up?
It was my introduction to Resident Evil. Zombie shooting, you know, it can’t be all that bad. It’s this big popular franchise.
What did you like about it? What made you, what made you enjoy it?
I’m going to sound silly shooting stuff. To this day, Leon can be does not know how to barrel roll. That guy cannot roll out of the way at all. You know, in cutscenes, he’s doing all the flips, but out of a cutscene, this boy can’t even jump. Oh, oh, and Ashley? God. I was just laughing trying to save Ashley. She tripped on the bridge and just laid there while the bridge was getting bombed, or she would stand up right as I was shooting somebody and I just shot her.
This one might be a bit of a controversial question. What are some aspects about VTubing that you wish could change a little bit?
Yeah, I’m going to be real here. Sometimes, like, your community. You know, we do stuff outside of sometimes, like jobs. So, when you’re trying to go to bed and you’ve got people messaging all the time. Privacy, I guess. Time. Respectfulness. I have a job to support VTubing. So, literally, I’m working for my community when I go to work.
Do you have any advice that you would give to people starting out in VTubing?
I feel there are so many ways to go about starting VTubing. I would say there’s no one correct formula to go about starting VTubing. Some people get a Twitter following first, or social media following, build a community first, and then have a debut stream. Then there’s just people who are just like “I’m going to play this game and talk to people.” I would say just don’t be afraid to do your own thing. Because I used to think I would just have to play the same thing everyone else was playing. If you like one certain thing, don’t be afraid to share it with others.
As we enter the new year, I know you’ve talked about your future in VTubing, but what is your next step?
Learn video editing. Right now I just upload my raw VODs to my YouTube. But, they’re not edited at all. It is just a stream recorded, there’s no editing going on there.
Oh, you’re gonna be a powerhouse! Your own rigging, your own editing!
Sometimes I wonder how I, you know, can do all this. Breaks are important. Breaks are important. Let me tell you that. Yes, and have 4 cats. That’s important. I think we all know that having cats is a very important part of any life experience. I usually keep the door to my room closed because they would be everywhere up on my desk, up by my computer. But, as soon as I open the door, I have 1 cat who will sit there. And, you know, she’ll wait until I pet her. Oh, she’s great. And I love her.
How is the best way for a new viewer to get to know you if what they read here interests them?
Twitch, probably because I stream four times a week!
Thank you Scarlett for sitting down to talk with me today! Good luck with your rigging and video editing… Here is to hoping the Scorpion Princess doesn’t accidentally start anymore wars this year!
If you would like to get to know more about this scorpion princess, please check out the links below!