First off, I want to say this before I get into details. This is meant as a "business review", and is in NO WAY shape or form an attack on Ashnichrist or what she does. So I do NOT want to see people go after her, slander her, or anything else of the sort. Please, act like adults, thank you.
For those of you who don't know, my name is Aquana (formerly Chibi of internet infamy, still kind of am). I've been a partnered streamer on the platform since 2014. However, I suffer from an autistic disorder (not quite full blown autism, but still on the spectrum). As such, I struggle with a lot of things, including anxiety, depression, and general social ineptitude. I often times fail to read social cues and as a result have done a lot of stupid things in my Twitch career. I will not be going into details here, as the past is the past. But the key takeaway is this: My reputation SUCKED.
I met Ashnichrist in 2018, as she was just making her comeback into the streaming space, and was pushing something called "Stream Coaching". It got me curious, because she had so much influence in the space, her stream was growing rapidly and so many other streamers recommended her. I decided to check her out to see what it was all about. I saw her stream, her chat was active, and it just seemed like a nice place. Professional setup, hardworking mods, everything. Then I found out about her patreon, which advertised a 1 on 1 coaching, for 100$ a month. (Keep in mind that only I know I should not have jumped in as fast as I did, and that's on me. But at this time, I was desperate. By now, my community was in shambles, my mental health was failing, and I looked at this as my last opportunity to "fix things". Some of you may not now, but one of the most influential Youtube creators alive (yes, I do mean Pewdiepie himself), had made a video basically slamming me for nearly 25 straight minutes, while laughing at the viral 2014 SGDQ incident I was a part of. If you want to see it for yourself, go on Youtube and search "The most awkward moment I've ever seen".) There was also a group of internet trolls that got my address and personal information by doxxing me, leaked nudes, threatened us with swatting, the whole 9 yards.
So needless to say, she had her work cut out for her. Our first meeting was on discord, we each had cams on, so she knew what I looked like and I could see her. It was fairly comfortable, and at that point we started talking about things. But with as much baggage as I was carrying, the conversations would quickly go from streaming to personal stuff. That wasn't necessarily either side's fault, however, the tangents would often end up cutting meetings short. And even though we were supposed to meet for an hour, we'd usually only meet for 45 minutes before she had to wrap up and do something else. Wasnt really a huge fan of that, but I figured "Ok fine, guess we'll just talk about things next month". I didnt really feel like the conversations went anywhere (she did suggest I write an e-book, but at the end of the day, I couldnt justify doing it). And when we did talk about streaming, it was mostly general advice that you could find anywhere.
Months passed and so did several meetings, and I still didnt feel like things were going anywhere. It was a struggle to schedule meetings with her, because our timezones differed slightly, but the biggest issue I had were the short-notice cancellations/postponing. I understand life happens and you cant commit to everything you promise, but this wasnt just one time. This would happen multiple times. Sometimes on my end (life at that time got really busy), but mostly on hers. And when I did want to reschedule something, getting a hold of her was nigh impossible to do. I'd DM her, then not hear back for weeks. All while 100$ came out of my bank account and into her pocket every month. There were even some months where I wasnt streaming that she still took my 100$ and didnt offer to refund me for that month, even though we didnt meet up that month. (This happened QUITE a few times, during several months.)
Over a year and a half later, (either 2019 or 2020) we were trying to catch up on missed meetings from the previous year when I was forced to take a break. And we had about 9 or 10 missed meetings at that point. But she couldnt fit it into her schedule, so once more, the previous issues persisted. Eventually I decided that enough was enough, and I was really dissatisfied. I felt like I was taken advantage of from the beginning. We met one final time on discord, and I voiced my concerns. That is when she came out to me and said this.
"Truth be told, you've been one of my most difficult clients, and I honestly believe you are beyond the kind of help I can give."
I felt gutted. Right then and there I felt like my opportunity to get my stream where I could feel validated, and not mocked, or teased, go up in smoke. I asked her for a refund for all of the sessions that she missed, and she promised that she'd send me about 300$ dollars every month for 3 months to total out to the nine sessions (it may have been 10 but I was willing to compromise). I recieved one refund, then following that....nothing. Not even a follow up saying why. Just radio silence.
As of today, I am no longer subscribed to her patreon. I felt like I was taken complete advantage of, and felt like I'd lost my only chance to gain my reputation back. I don't have issue with Ashni as a person, but as a business owner, this was not a good experience.
Today, many people have also come forward about their experiences with Ashnichrist and her Stream Coaching business. It was thanks to Breadwitchery and her post regarding this matter that I felt like I was justified in my reason to come forward. She and several other partnered and non-partnered streamers gave me the push I needed to do this. So to all of you, thank you so much.
Ever since this morning, (and for the first time in over a year now) I have since recieved a DM from Ashni very clearly doing damage control, that was a very clear "cut and paste" message. I told her why I felt the way I did, and she said that
"I should have been more clear in communicating with you, and the reason why I said you were my most difficult client was because our meetings would often trail into mental health concerns (which were a big reason why I was feeling like I couldnt stream well), and I was not equipped to deal with that sort of thing. However I should have noticed that we were getting off track, and done something about it". Basically, a "hindsight is 2020" sort of thing.
Again, I do not HATE Ashni, and I do not want to see people attacking her or her boyfriend over this. I wanted to share my experience, as many others have done, and ensure that people think carefully before falling for similar scams like this. "Streaming gurus" in general are not people you should be seeking advice from, especially if they charge for said advice (I was paying my licensed therapist less than what I was paying for this). In the end, you have resources you can use that are free. Youtube anything regarding stream help, and you'll find something. Just please PLEASE be careful, and know what you're getting into before it's too late.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you all take care of yourselves. <3
-Aquana
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