Yukiwaru joins Based Camp after going viral for saying the quiet parts out loud: men can’t get periods, and tomboys are good. In this conversation, Malcolm and Simone talk with the VTuber about why she refused to apologize or walk anything back, the toxic “friend”/artist who kept centering themselves and walking all over her boundaries (including on her birthday stream), and what it felt like to finally stop walking on eggshells. They also cover:• How she started streaming (just a unique voice playing League) and became a snow-leopard VTuber• Losing old friends and artists vs. the new community that actually let her be herself• Desexualizing her model and why that grew her channel• Building an authentic audience instead of a flirty persona• Reaction content, cop slop, pony play, and streamers as the next wave of cultural influencers• Tomboy identity, the pressure to invent special labels, and why “just a straight white female” suddenly felt lame Episode Transcript Malcolm Collins [0:00]:Hello. I’m excited to be here with you today! Today, we have Yuki Waru with us who recently went viral. There’s been a few red videos on her because she made the bold claim that men cannot get periods and that tomboys are good. And anyone who knows our channel, we we are so pro tomboy on this channel that I actually had a fan email me a detailed list of bible quotes trying to argue that the bible says you should only take tomboys. And I was like, that is that is another degree. But what makes her so interesting and why I was excited to talk with you is you were before saying this, you never really got into politics that much on your channel. Uh, you never really got into, like, the this kind of, like, political spicy opinion. And something really unique happened because the Internet decided to go after you for these takes. And normally, the reaction historically of, like, a nonpolitical VTuber would have been to either apologize or at the very least, if they’re not going to apologize, not lean into it, not watch the rev review of her, not come on Basecamp or something like that. And yet you go in this other direction, and it seems to have worked out really well for you. But I’m wondering why you went in this direction. Like, would do you think that this is just like the ethos now, or is this an intentional decision you made or what? Yukiwaru [1:29]:Well, for me, I mean, saying my thoughts and my point of view felt really freeing. And I feel like I’ve been walking on eggshells around people for so long worrying about everyone’s feelings, and, like, it’s been really, like, debilitating for me trying to just, you know, watch out for everyone’s feelings. And I was just like, you know what? I’m over it. And I said what I said. I I would I’m not gonna say something if I don’t mean it. And if I’m not gonna stand by it, that’s a waste of time and energy. I mean, why say something if you’re not gonna stick by it? I don’t see that point. Malcolm Collins [2:07]:Well, a lot of oh, continue. Continue. Yukiwaru [2:11]:Oh, I was just gonna say, I I don’t say something then back down. I’m gonna stick with it. I don’t care what people think, and I’m so sick of trying to, like, watch out for people. I mean, like, I respect people’s feelings, but, like, god, like, I have had to be so careful and, like, really think through what I say and, like, like, make sure I get, like, pronouns and stuff correctly because, you know, I I do respect how people feel and stuff, but it felt so good to let it out. Oh my god. No. It’s so so free. Malcolm Collins [2:45]:It it really this is a pathway that I feel like has happened to a lot of people. So we my wife and I used to be, like, very mainstream leftist, and then we ended up going viral a number of times for talking about birth rate collapse. Just like fertility rates are really low. This is gonna affect social security systems. And we got absolutely piled on. The the the Internet decided that that meant that we were white supremacists or whatever or, like I I don’t know. Right? Um, and so, uh, what ended up changing our mind is, at first, we weren’t like you. We hedged all of our points. We were like, well, with this and keep in mind this and keep in mind this. But as time went on, we begin to notice that there was, like, this community of people who just, like, cared about what was true. And they were, like, shockingly nice to us, um, even when we had a lot of differences of opinions with them. And this feeling that you’re talking about of, like, oh my god. I can just say whatever I think now It’s such such a weird place that we were in a society where it was normal to not feel that way. I mean, I I did did did you find yourself, like, self censoring a lot before? Was it was it the being called out that put you in a position where you could talk about things more? Like, was it was that what made it possible for you? Yukiwaru [4:16]:I did feel better really, you know, stating how I I’ve never really been one to censor. I’ve always been known for being, like, forward, bluntly honest, just saying how I feel. Because I I mean, personally, I don’t really understand other people’s feelings, like or empathy or compassion, you know. I just it doesn’t come natural to me. I think I felt empathy once in my entire life, and I didn’t understand what was happening. My dad, like, had to explain it to me like I was a kindergartner, learning how to feel and stuff. It was Oh. Simone Collins [4:52]:It was Yukiwaru [4:52]:a weird thing. But yeah. I mean, even now, I’m still kind of paranoid of my own pronouns. I I find myself referring to everyone as them, they just to be careful and cautious. It’s just in my head that I’m gonna say something and mess something up, and they’re gonna, like, come after me for it even if they are a friend or not. Malcolm Collins [5:16]:Well, your story was really interesting because it started with like, it seemed like this really started with a specific toxic individual in your life. And they go on your birthday stream, and somebody accidentally misgenders them, and they decide to make the birthday stream all about themselves. Mhmm. And I also wanna note here before I go all trans people do that. Like, I know some totally normal, cool, based trans people, and they don’t do this s**t. When somebody accidentally misgenders them, they’re just like, whatever. Like, it’s just not even important. It’s not even in the room of of of issues. Yeah. And then there’s this, like, other group that uses it to try to center themselves and, like, move past other people’s consensual boundaries and recenter and the your emotions because I thought it was very interesting the way that you talked about it. You’re like, this made me feel really bad when that happened. And it wasn’t the first time when this individual had made you feel really bad in this way. There was you were talking all the way back to when you first got partnered with Twitch. Yukiwaru [6:29]:Mhmm. Malcolm Collins [6:30]:And they hadn’t gotten the partnership, and they made you feel bad about celebrating, which is probably one of the biggest events in your life. Mhmm. Getting just interested to hear your thoughts on all this from the from, like, experiencing it and and moving primarily because of, like, one other individual pushing you into saying this stuff. Mhmm. Yukiwaru [6:57]:I became friends with them. They were they had more viewership than I did when we started becoming friends. And and at some time, I started surpassing them in viewership and growing more than they were. And, you know, at some point, they were viewer ing high where they could’ve gotten Twitch partner, but something happened where everything just dropped for them. And they they had been streaming longer than I have. So when I was, you know, growing more than them, I felt, like, guilty, like, because I felt, you know, they would always tell me how hard they’re trying and, like, mentally how they’re feeling. Like, they don’t understand. And, also, I understand that because even though I had Twitch partner, things dropped after my partner pushed. My views dropped, and I was like, alright. What am I doing wrong? What do I gotta change? But when I got the email for Twitch partner, was in a collab, and they were in my collab because, you know, I love including my friends. I love supporting my friends Yeah. Being there for them. And I got the email, and I started freaking out. And everyone in the collab was, like, so enthusiastic and so energetic and so celebratory. And then they came, and they’re like, what’s going on? And they’re like, oh my god. You just got Twitch burner. And they’re like, oh, good job. And I was like, Malcolm Collins [8:21]:Can can you explain for our audience who might not understand the significance of getting partnered with Twitch what this means for you as a creator? Yukiwaru [8:28]:I mean, besides having a really cool badge, not necessarily too much. It means that you were able to keep an average of a high viewership for a certain amount of time and complete the requirements. Malcolm Collins [8:44]:Doesn’t it change, like, the monetization or, like, the way the pathways you have to contact them? Yukiwaru [8:49]:From what I understand, when it comes to monetization, you do get more opportunities. But then it also you know, you have to do Twitch plus to get a bigger half of what you make on Twitch. If you don’t get Twitch plus, it really isn’t that much of a difference. And to get get Twitch plus, you have to hit goals of people subscribing and, like, gifting subs. Like, people need to spend money so you can get the different levels of Twitch plus to make more of the cut. So, Simone Collins [9:22]:like Oh god. Yukiwaru [9:23]:They changed it. Malcolm Collins [9:24]:I also just had a realization. You’ve been streaming for t
