Strange Companion: Our Performative and Parasocial Lives

I started playing Elden Ring, the latest FromSoftware action role-playing video game by Hidetaka Miyazaki, upon its release in the spring of 2022. My partner had the controller first, and we were not far into the fictional region of Limgrave—a lush landscape of ancient ruins with a massive golden tree in the distance, whose glowing branches cover the whole sky—when we reached an impasse. Frustrated, I scoured YouTube for someone to show us the way forward. I found the recording of a Twitch livestreamer called 39daph (Daphne Wai, b. 1998). The video was immediately helpful; by studying her skillful movement and use of equipment and other tools, we were able to advance. 

39daph lives in Vancouver and streams almost every night at around 11 pm PST. Her streams consist of drawing, gaming, or chatting with viewers and can last up to ten hours. Throughout the night, she will usually pound back bottles of cold tea, various snacks, and fast-food orders. To my surprise, I found myself returning to her channel—I found her so entertaining that I started watching her playthroughs of other games—and eventually I followed her on Twitch. I felt like I was playing Elden Ring alongside her, and my confidence grew in the safety of our parallel progress.