Being a popular content creator on Twitch or YouTube can bring a lot of stress that many viewers don’t take into consideration. After a hate raid in January and the ensuing drama caused fellow streamers to pick sides, Pokimane recently admitted that she became depressed. And the job can be particularly difficult when a content creator becomes extremely popular very quickly, like Twitch streamer Emiru did.
Emiru, or Emi, has accumulated a large following on her Twitch channel in the past year because, along with an engaging sense of humor, she does impressive cosplay. The content creator also has a quirky personality that many people find appealing. Emiru recently showed off her massive soap collection, which she says consists of over 60 bottles, and also has a huge number of Kirby plushies and rabbits, though she maintains that she is not a hoarder.
Recently, Emiru became a member of One True King, a gaming organization started by Asmongold, Mizkif, and other well-known content creators, and moved into Mizkif’s home in Austin. This caused her follower count on Twitch to skyrocket. Understandably, her growing audience would like to learn more about the 23-year-old and has asked her to do IRL streams. While interested, Emiru has a clear reason to shy away from that type of content: her fear of stream snipers. Stream sniping typically means watching a content creator’s stream and then using the information to find them in-game and harass them, usually by repeatedly killing them, blocking them from moving, or constantly kiting mobs to aggro on them.
Stream sniping during an IRL stream can be more frightening, though, because viewers can use the information from the stream to pinpoint the content creator's actual location. For some Twitch and YouTube streamers, having strangers approach them in real life might be welcome. For Emiru, however, the idea is anxiety-inducing.
The content creator’s quick rise to Twitch celebrity has inevitably caused some over-enthusiastic “fans” to begin to stalk her. Once, while livestreaming, a strange man appeared at her door and began pounding on it and yelling. “I have like an extreme fear of stream snipers,” Emiru explained during a livestream, “because of the stuff that was happening at my house in Kansas.” Though not a lot of detail has been revealed about the incident, Emiru apparently had a frightening encounter with a stalker at her previous home.
The streamer recently did an IRL stream for her birthday and admits that she had an anxiety attack beforehand, despite there being a bodyguard. “It’s not like a rational fear because, like, nothing’s going to happen,” said Emiru. “Even if it does, it’s going to be fine.” But the content creator thinks that her fear of stream sniping may be due to PTSD over the Kansas incident, and Emiru has spoken in the past about potential mental health issues, although she insists that she’s “more than okay.”