Blending Brushes with Joysticks [Guest: AuraScope]

When the worlds of gaming and beauty collide, you get the powerhouse that is AuraScope, our latest guest who's setting the esports realm ablaze. Sit back and soak in the tale of how a teenage affinity for pixelated adventures and a brush set transformed into a mission for diversity and a celebration of the Black is Legendary 2024 Tournament Series. AuraScope's candid confessions reveal the synergy of two seemingly disparate interests, seeding a movement that empowers and uplifts within the virtual and real-world arenas.

Embarking on the adventure of brand evolution, AuraScope recounts the metamorphosis of her online identity, a journey marked by a strategic rebrand designed to resonate with her burgeoning community. Discover how an Instagram page blossomed into a beacon for gaming enthusiasts and beauty mavens alike, and the triumphs of navigating an interdisciplinary esports program that would eventually shape her role as a social media maven. It's a narrative stitched with personal growth, the art of documentation, and the savvy to thread an online presence that captivates and inspires a diverse audience.

In the heart of our conversation lies a sanctuary for connection—an exploration of safe spaces where young black girls and women can thrive in the gaming landscape. AuraScope guides us through her experiences with empowering networks, shining a light on the profound impact of communities that foster joy, resilience, and inclusivity. As we wrap up, she extends an invitation to join her on this vibrant journey; to game, to create, and to live with a spirit of joy that transcends the digital divide.

Chapters

• 0:06 Content Creation Journey With Oriscope
• 13:56 Content Creation Rebranding and Personal Growth
• 21:00 Navigating Content Creation and Personal Growth
• 35:21 Embracing Community in Gaming

Transcript

Jermaine: 0:06

Welcome. Welcome back to another episode of uploaded and unfiltered, the podcast in which I, your host Jermaine, interviews another content creator in regards to their journey in this content creation game thus far. Tonight, as always, I have a special guest. I'm going to read their bio, introduce them and get this conversation started.

Jermaine: 0:26

AuraScope is your favorite gamer glamour girl. She blends the beauty of makeup, gaming, fashion and lifestyle into her content creation on all platforms. Known for her extensive work in esports, hosting tournaments and partnership with brands like Elgato, benefits Cosmetics and GenG Esports, orascope has broken boundaries in gaming by advocating for diversity. Her biggest project, the Black is Legendary 2024 Tournament Series, in partnership with Elgato, celebrated Black gamers across six titles and garnered over 800,000 views across Twitch, with 171 participants and $11,000 in prizes. Across Twitch, with 171 participants and $11,000 in prizes. Horoscope has emerged as a trendsetter in the online sphere, captivating audiences with a fusion of vibrant makeup artistry and immersive gaming content. From educating her community on the latest beauty trends to practicing her aim in Overwatch 2 or hosting an online tournament, this content luminary continues to connect with audiences, leaving an incredible mark of beauty in gaming communities everywhere. Without further ado, I'd like to introduce my guest for the evening, the one, the only, oriscope. Welcome to this, welcome to the podcast. How is your day going? Hello, hello hello, hello.

AuraScope: 1:43

No, you're good. Hi everyone. How are you doing? What's hi everyone? How are you doing what's up, what's up, what's up?

Jermaine: 1:50

I am good welcome. I'm glad we were able to get some time on the book so we can uh, you know, chit chat a little bit absolutely.

AuraScope: 1:57

Oh, my goodness, it's been a long time coming. You were so patient with me because when you, when you messaged me and I okay, I got this on the list, this on the list, this is great, okay, I'm gonna look at this, yes. And then a whole month passed by and I said I feel like I'm forgetting something.

Jermaine: 2:14

You are good. I was actually talking to my wife. I'm really good or bad about following up with people because I like I know for sure pack, you were busy at the tournament going and I thought our mutual Jedi, he's like I think she's mad busy. I'm like, all right, I'll wait. I'm good, like I didn't. She could get it to me like in the summer. Hey, I'm ready, I'm alright. I.

AuraScope: 2:37

Really appreciate your patience, though.

Jermaine: 2:39

Hey, no problem at all, I understand, and with that I actually Because because this is such a passion for me, because I get to ask my friends not personal questions but just stuff about their content creation, it's fun. So with that I'm gonna go ahead and ask because I don't know the origin story and I think everybody wants to know how did you get started in creating content?

AuraScope: 3:02

Oh, okay, well, hold on. Sorry, I'm putting a little bit of lip gloss on. So, first of all, hello everyone. My name is Orascope, you can just call me Ora. I'm a beauty and gaming content creator, as Jermaine just said. And look, I'm here in the gaming universe and the beauty universe and it's a fun time. I've been in the scene since I was 18 years old, so it's been, oh my gosh, it's been almost 60 years, which is so wild to me. Yeah, I started my freshman year of college and now we're here, yeah, during college.

AuraScope: 3:49

Yes, that sounds intense, okay, yeah, so the my love for gaming and content creation honestly started way earlier, way, way earlier, when I was in like middle school and such a lot of people kind of knew me as, like you know, she's that one girl likes to play video games, I'm like, yeah, real you right, um, and I, I, I don't know I I really enjoyed being able to like sit down after classes were done.

AuraScope: 4:14

After school was done, I'd go and do like theater or dance. Then I come home and then I'd open up youtube and I'd be watching the greats. I'd be watching the goats, markiplier.

Jermaine: 4:25

Corey Kenshin, dashie Jackson Kai yeah.

AuraScope: 4:30

I had that facet of my content watching and then, whenever I was like okay, I'd switch over to the makeup goats like Jackie Aina, ella Reese, sandra Deluxe. That was my content consumption ever since I was what? 13, 14 years old.

Jermaine: 4:46

Okay.

AuraScope: 4:48

And I don't know. I just I was really into it. I really wanted to be a content creator, like it's one of those sort of like embarrassing things that you tell people. It's like, yeah, I know I kind of. What do you want to be when you grow up? At first, when I was really young, it was a pop star. I want to be when you grow up At first, when I was really young, it was a pop star.

Jermaine: 5:06

I want to be like Britney Spears. Hello, okay, yeah.

AuraScope: 5:08

This is the second best, so here we go, I'll be fine.

AuraScope: 5:13

So I had that in the back of my mind as I was going to college. I was like I still like I want to create content in some way, shape or form. Like that wasn't like the dream job that I wanted to have, necessarily, but it's something that I really wanted to commit myself to because as I was watching Mark and Corey and the Rad Brad and all of them, I still thought in the back of my mind like you know, there are not a lot of girls or like women that I know of and not a lot of black individuals in the space. Like that's kind of odd, that's a little weird, you know.

Jermaine: 5:46

And.

AuraScope: 5:46

I wanted to be able to showcase myself in some way, shape or form. And so freshman year of college, we had those like communal dorm spaces and such. And somebody was like, hey, like you know, you ever heard of like Twitch before? And I was like, yeah, like I've seen like a Twitch stream before. But you know, youtube was my primary like social media that I would use to like consume gaming content, right. So I ended up making a Twitch account, like that October, but I didn't start streaming until that May and classes had just ended and I here's the thing for all the beginners out there please don't be nervous that you don't have the setup. That you don't have like the bells and whistles off, rip, because it is a lot of money and it takes a lot of time.

AuraScope: 6:37

So when I started streaming, I started streaming off my iPhone 4.

Jermaine: 6:43

What? That's what I'm talking about. Hell yeah.

AuraScope: 6:45

I remember I had the PlayStation 2 hooked up to our downstairs TV and I was like dad, I really want to do this Like I don't know how to set up my phone, though, and so we went out to Walmart, I think, got a little tripod hooked up. Yup, set it up. You can see, like my living room and everything.

Jermaine: 7:07

Yo, does this bot still exist? No, thankfully not. I wanted to see that that's wild, I was playing.

AuraScope: 7:13

I played Final Fantasy 12, the OG version, I played Mortal Kombat X, I think, and I also did some makeup streams as well, and so I was like kind of building an audience through that, very, very slowly, obviously, um. But that summer a freshman year and here's where things start to get a little wild um, I ended up um being, I guess, accepted into this program as a quote unquote internship for my college, and so that meant I had to stay at my college over the summer. I didn't have anything really set up in terms of like a living situation or whatnot. I just knew that I was going to be there for the entirety of the summer, which is not really something you want to do your freshman year you know, sophomore year yeah, very unhappy, but I was like I'm gonna get the credit whatever.

AuraScope: 8:03

It's just how it is. Uh, so I move in, move in day, random roommate matchup, right. I walked through the door and I was like, wait a second, why do I know this person? Because this person. I, I love her. I love her so much. She's my best friend now um. Her online name is aland and we met each other once in like calc class that spring semester.

AuraScope: 8:29

And a mutual of ours, just like introduce us to each other, and we're just like hey, hey. I was like oh, she's kind of, she's kind of shy. But when I walked in I was like wait, calc class. And she was like yeah. How are you doing? And then, as I was unpacking stuff, I saw she had a PC set up and so I stared at her and I was like, wait a second, is this a gaming PC? And she was like, yes, what, what? What she felt called out.

Jermaine: 8:56

I was like why, why, what do you even know? I was like that is so cool. Oh my God.

AuraScope: 9:07

We didn cool. Oh my god, like we didn't know that we were both gamers at all, and so that was like one of the main ways that we bonded during that summer. And some nights I would go into, like the, the communal dorm area. I'd haul my playstation 2 with me, I'd plug it in, I'd stream some final fantasy 12. I'd have to have some um, a little bit of a tussle sometimes with other people in the dorms because it was Bachelor season and because I didn't have a TV. The girls would come downstairs and be like are you done? Because the Bachelor's on.

Jermaine: 9:39

I was like ugh, streams cancelled. Y'all the girls went to the Bachelor. That's wild, man. Y'all the girl went to the bachelor. That's wild. Oh man, this is crazy.

AuraScope: 9:47

Yeah, but here's how I ended up acquiring the setup that I actually do now. So during this internship it was STEM-based, but in the same vein, I was there as a social media and outreach coordinator.

Jermaine: 10:10

And that job, it was a job and, it sounds like it, I.

AuraScope: 10:14

It was a very interesting experience. Now, admittedly, this was the first job I had ever had and like ever yeah, ever yeah, I know, know. I have been privileged enough that that was the first job that I ever had, which was nice. I'm very, very glad that I had this experience because it did really shape how I work from here on out, especially in group settings. But in the same vein, it was not good. I did not like it at all.

Jermaine: 10:43

Oh my.

AuraScope: 10:44

God Like two out of ten experience.

Jermaine: 10:47

Do not ever want to do again.

AuraScope: 10:50

And it was just. It was the first time that I really experienced matter. What I tried to do, it wasn't ever enough. I had some people try to like cut me out of work intentionally, and then I'd end up having discussions with my boss and be like why isn't this here or there? And I'm like what are you talking about? I don't like. I was never communicated this information and it was. It just seemed very apparent over that entire summer that, though, even though they hired me to do a job in like social media management outreach, that was not something that they were truly aligned with and they didn't really want to connect enough with the community to the point that I wanted to, because, again, that was my job. Needless to say, you could ask them, they would say that I left. I would say that I was fired, regardless. I got the check.

AuraScope: 12:02

So, yeah, I got paid, and it was $4,000 over the course of the entire summer, and they literally quote, unquote I left like not even four days before the program even ended oh wow, yeah, it was that crazy yes, it was that crazy and um, but you know they ended up continuing to work through the fall like it was supposed to be, like a summer and fall thing, but our summer portion was supposed to end in those few days, um, but anyway, I got a check for four thousand dollars and I was like, okay, half is going to my savings and the other half is going to a gaming pc yeah, that's what I have today.

Jermaine: 12:35

Oh man, that's a nice stroke of change, for a pc too yeah, so I was able to spend.

AuraScope: 12:40

I think the pc itself was like 1.2, okay, and then getting the peripherals and stuff like that. Um, that was like the rest of the money so and then I I started to stream. Yeah, that's the very lengthy origin story of how I'm here today no, that's amazing.

Jermaine: 12:57

I like that. Not only like so this social media outreach. Did that teach you things about social media that you didn't know beforehand, or was it pretty much you knew what was going on at that point?

AuraScope: 13:10

I pretty much knew what was going on and it's kind of funny because I guess my my knack for being quote unquote chronically online has been helpful to me for the past like eight to 10 years of my life, because that was technically my second position as a social media outreach coordinator in high school. Again, the the nerd in me has been consistent the whole way through in high school, I was actually on my robotics team and yeah and.

AuraScope: 13:43

I was a coder, but back then we had a small team so we really needed to make sure that we maximize who was doing what? And even though I could code, I was still kind of new to it, still kind of slow, and there are other people who are just a lot quicker with it. So I was like, okay, how else am I supposed to parse my time? And in a way that's the most effective for this team? And so I decided to handle the social media and like outreach, adjacent things and creating the engineering notebook is what they called it. So I documented all of our meetings and all that good stuff, and so that's where that really started and it developed through the internship that I had freshman year and then, past that job of my internship, I ended up being a part of my school's interdisciplinary e-sports program, so I helped create that, which is really, really dope, it's really awesome, and I was also the social media and outreach coordinator for that.

AuraScope: 14:40

So it's like there's always a need to fulfill, and I'm present.

Jermaine: 14:44

Yes, and you have skill sets in it, so absolutely um, all right, well, I, I like that.

Jermaine: 14:51

You know what we. This is a new section that I've added. I didn't mention this at the beginning of the podcast, so if you don't want to do, we don't have to. But for those who don't know, I I know aura from when her screenings would be. We make up, we make upstream, and so I remember when you changed it, like it took me honestly, it took me like two weeks to like make the switch in my head, yep. And so my question is how both you know what we're going to do both. How did you come up with we make upstream? Oh, ok, what prompted the switch?

AuraScope: 15:28

Okay, so funny. You should say that, um, when I created my page initially and it's so I love it because on my Instagram stories I can see, like you know, all the way far back from the very beginning and 18 year old me was like I know that there are like other people out there that like beauty and gaming just as much as I do. I just got to find that and create that community.

AuraScope: 15:56

That's how I'm going to start this page, but my name, which is actually we Make Up Steam, which is one of the reasons why I changed it. So it's a big, big acronym. So the W-E is actually supposed to stand for women's empowerment.

Jermaine: 16:15

Okay.

AuraScope: 16:15

And makeup because I like to do makeup and stuff, and then steam because I was a STEM kid. And I yeah a stem kid and I yeah, and so I added the a because, uh, contrary to popular belief, arts is very much so integrated into stem studies. That is essentially what gaming is and a lot of people do not want to admit that, for some odd reason I never thought about that yeah, so that's. That's what my name was, and I didn't necessarily create my name with a specific intention to be a gaming creator, necessarily.

Jermaine: 16:51

Right.

AuraScope: 16:51

Like I just wanted to be a creator and it was hard because, for those that are aware, in like the beauty community you always go by like your name, and that's not something that I necessarily wanted to do. But in gaming, you know, people have like a mix of their name and their gamer tag and this, that and the third, and so it's just like what am I supposed to do? Because I wasn't really essentially comfortable with saying my name and also because my name for a lot of people is not really the easiest to say it's Kai, but it's spelled like chai.

AuraScope: 17:25

So, I don't want people to like mess it up too much. So I was like all right, well, just I'll just figure out like what to do and like what to say. So I created that. But as time moved forward, I became integrated into the Twitch space and I was more involved in gaming.

AuraScope: 17:42

I realized that like, oh A, my name's really long B people don't know what to really call me, like most people called me Makeup, but some people called me Steam, or some people called me WeMakeup, which is all. Three were fine, but I was like it needs to be a little bit more universal and because I want to continue growing in this space, I I gotta have something that's like it's got tagged exactly yes and people kept saying my name incorrectly.

AuraScope: 18:10

By saying my name was we make upstream and I was like it's, it's like a, it's a. It's a mis misnomer, I guess. Or it's like a slip up that I knew people. Just they just said, because that's what they would read, right exactly like something that they knew.

AuraScope: 18:24

so I was like, okay, okay, I'm, I'm going to change it up, I'm going to see what I can do. And so I was on the phone with my friends. I was like, oh my God, y'all Like what is my new name supposed to be? Like, I got to shed this skin, all right. I got to come into something new. They're like.

AuraScope: 18:41

I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. We were throwing around. Names are ridiculous. And I was like you know, because when you think of a lot of content creators out there, a lot of them, have they just so happen to acquire like a one word name? That they just became popular with. Like yes, because I'm thinking of like Overwatch right now, like super sleepy right.

AuraScope: 19:04

Aspen Like it's just like, it's kind of just there and then you have, yeah, and then you have like the really fun, catchy ones chelsea bites, cup of noodles, story mode. I'm like it just fits, but what fits with me? Like you're having a crisis so I'm sitting here and I'm like, huh you, you know it'd be kind of funny. I was like we don't be a funny drag name or a scope, like it would be somebody who would, like you know, read, like your, your horoscopes or like like fighting and like shooting games Like that was so funny.

AuraScope: 19:37

And I was like, wait, that kind of sticks, and so that's kind of how that happened. That is what and it works and I'm like the. The added benefit is that you know I like being able to hopefully provide really fun, positive and chaotic vibes to my stream and some people would like to say have an aura about me.

Jermaine: 20:02

So there's that, uh, this name. You fell into a perfect name. Like what Names are always hard? Like when you're naming either yourself, like as far as your personality, or a business or a website. Coming up with new names is always I hate doing that, but you nailed it. So congratulations, thank you. You know what We'll go ahead and roll into their current mindset. This is where I ask my guests how they feel about their current content and what they see themselves doing in the future. Um, so what does that look like for you?

AuraScope: 20:36

so just to like give you a scope of where my head's at the past year, I know, the past two years of my life I've been so odd because me two years ago I was a senior in college and I have been waiting so patiently because I started content creation while I was in college.

AuraScope: 21:00

I was like this isn't even my full form like I'm doing this on the side of like going to class, doing these activities, like going to all these events, and I was so bummed out because I would have to like deny showing up, to like cons and stuff like that, because I was like, oh my god, I I have school, like I just can't leave and and like mess up my schedule for something like going to a con or or being there for some appearance or some sort, and I it would bum me out so much I'm like I just can't wait until I graduate and then I'm gonna be free and then I can do all these things that I want to do and blah, blah, blah anyway.

AuraScope: 21:40

so we, we roll into me going directly from undergrad into grad school. Yeah, I don't know if I would ever do that again.

Jermaine: 21:51

Yeah, that's pretty time.

AuraScope: 21:53

Yeah, yeah, I was in a one-year program. It was accelerated. I got my Master's of Science in Business Analytics.

Jermaine: 22:03

Okay.

AuraScope: 22:03

And it was no.

Jermaine: 22:09

So was it four years in the one, or?

AuraScope: 22:11

So basically the average MSBA program, or like business analytics type program, is about two years in length or like at least a year and a half. And they're like no, you can get it done in 10 months, and that's just the program that my college had.

Jermaine: 22:24

Yeah.

AuraScope: 22:25

So I did that, didn't like it, but I got the degree. You know I can. I can say with all confidence that I can code, which you know. I mean. That's been a statement that I could say for years but, now I got the degree to back it up um.

AuraScope: 22:43

But I was at a point where, like, still in the back of my mind, I wanted or I want to work in the gaming industry in some capacity or in entertainment, like this is what I like, this is what I want to do. And so I've been applying to jobs, kind of, while still doing content creation. And I knew that I built up a pretty decent rep by hosting tournaments and I was really, really passionate about that in college. Like I really wanted to make sure that I could build a community and highlight individuals in the space through eSports as a whole and because, like, competitive gaming is cool, it's really fun.

AuraScope: 23:28

Yes, it's fun to watch. I think it's more fun to watch than this compete, that's just yeah, okay, okay but um, being able to like host and cast and like being able to put on events like that and to also be elevating the community as a whole and specifically the black community, like come on right there's so many dope like esports black communities out there that I didn't even like realize I was like I didn't even know this dude played apex.

Jermaine: 23:55

That's crazy yeah, yeah.

AuraScope: 23:57

So I I really wanted to. I wanted to make sure that I kept that up in some capacity. But when you look at it from an objective point of view, you already you already know the gaming industry. Right now it is in shambles like yes every every other week there is some layoff that is going on. Every other day there's just something that's going on that is like oh my god yeah, this is happening now okay yeah, you just gotta.

AuraScope: 24:27

You look at twitter and it's like, oh, okay, I guess, I guess we'll get them next time. I don't know, and so I.

AuraScope: 24:38

I like doing what I do, um, but in the same, like when I look back at all the things that I've done the past couple years, I joined this space because I wanted to create fun content. I want to play games to have a good time. I've been playing video games as I was five years old. That has changed and I need to be able to still make sure that I bring that same like childlike joy that I had into what I do on like a daily basis or a weekly basis, you know, and what people? I think people understand this, but they're like, yeah, I get it, but anyway, you know, hosting events is not for the weak. Hosting events is not for the weak, oh my God, and I love the fact that I have the ability to be able to get people together.

AuraScope: 25:33

But oh my god, I don't think, I really don't think people understand how much work goes into the events that I host, for Black is legendary. Thought of the idea of hosting this event in july, like during con season.

AuraScope: 25:54

Yeah, during con season I was like I am like writing down like general plans like who, what if I get a bunch of these like black orgs together and like we just have like a tournament series? I was like what should I do that? Why history month? Yeah, okay, and I was talking to, uh, jay ann from bgg during dreamcon, like I had a conversation with her and she was like, yeah, like I'm down, I'm down, I'm down. And then when twitch con rolled around in september, I met supreme and I talked to her and she was like you know, send me a, uh, a pitch deck and everything. Like you know, make know, make sure. And I was like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, because like we have never met each other.

AuraScope: 26:34

I'm not in community. I'm not a big creator either, so like she just didn't know who I was, Right, I feel you.

AuraScope: 26:40

Shot in the dark type of thing, you know. So October and November rolled around. I was going through some personal things, so I just did not have the time or the energy to commit to really putting in the work. But late november, early december, all systems were go right truly, and I have been grinding like every day from around christmas time until like the end of um, january. To get black is legendary together and I would be working probably anywhere between like four and six hours a day, yeah, and there were some days I'm like okay, I actually have to rest, because once february actually rolls around, I'm not gonna be able to rest like I, I gotta do everything and um because, again, going back to the whole, like I, like what I, but this is a lot of work, it's not what.

AuraScope: 27:33

I started off like content creation doing. I want to get back into the personal content that I enjoy. Like I enjoy like playing the video games themselves, not just organizing the events for them. I like putting on clothes and looking cute and putting on makeup and like talking about that and educating my audience about new makeup trends and stuff like that. Like, even though we don't do it all too often, I know my stream loves a good get ready with me and they love to stay updated on stuff so I, that's what my focus is right now and I'm technically on a bit of a break.

AuraScope: 28:08

From black is legendary still, because when I tell you that wore me out, oh my god, I'm still like on a bit of a break from. Black is Legendary still, because when I tell you that wore me out, I'm still like on a bit of a content break. But I think about the types of content that I want to continue to do, because I did start that. I started posting Get Ready With Me's on my YouTube some indie games and also like other large game titles, like the moral combat one, starfield all that good stuff. I I was starting to do that because I, I still want to. I want to invest back into myself, or scope the creator and not just or a scope the-sports tournament host.

Jermaine: 28:51

Yes, yes, yeah. I think, and I think you're realizing this the longer you create content, I think, when we're passionate and happy and excited about what we're creating, that shit shows in the content, and that's when our best content comes out.

AuraScope: 29:07

Right.

Jermaine: 29:09

So, all right, it's time to learn a lesson, or somebody's going to learn a lesson, or somebody's gonna learn a lesson what lessons have you learned um that you can equate to because you created content?

AuraScope: 29:21

um. So the first one it's in tandem with like just growing up yeah you really have to take time for yourself.

AuraScope: 29:34

Like it is it? I've had people tell me that, as I've, like, grown up and I'm like, yeah, but you know, specifically being a child of two parents who are very gung ho on education and it was I've it's been hammered into my brain that my education was going to be the ticket to my success in life, and so I was like I have to keep going. No matter what is going on, I need to keep going. And so it was just like I was actively burning myself out because I saw that you know, the good grades, the degree that is the only thing that's going to make me successful as a person. And that's not true. Like that's not the only thing, right?

Jermaine: 30:18

Right, I'm glad.

AuraScope: 30:19

I'm dual degreed in five years period. But also good lord girl Rest Right.

Jermaine: 30:25

Exactly, take a break, yeah.

AuraScope: 30:27

So, and that absolutely goes with content creation, I used to do what like two, two tournaments a year, because I've done a total of six or seven, I think you've hosted. Yeah.

Jermaine: 30:40

Okay, damn, I didn't realize it was that many Okay.

AuraScope: 30:43

Yeah, so, um, it's, it's been a lot and I used to like to a year and then last year I I took a break for a little bit because, after the original black is legendary in 2022, I was like I can't do this. Like I there was so much going on yeah, I could not. There's too many factors and, especially when you host an event for black history month, a lot of the wrong type of people start to come out the woodwork and start to be very, very racist and bigoted and deceitful and real hateful, and it was a lot for me to take on. So I was like I let me just, I gotta stop, like I gotta take a time to rest and reset for me. Um, and doing that while also still being in school, I I truly look back and I'm like, what was I on? Because, like what, why was I doing this, while also having a full like credit load, being in a sorority, being in like East where they had a job? Like what, what? What am I doing?

Jermaine: 31:48

What are we?

AuraScope: 31:48

doing Like I. I was firing literally on all cylinders for four years and I was like all right, girl, we gotta, we gotta hang it up and we it's always a topic of conversation for us today's, like citizens of the world, is that a work life balance truly does not seem like it's possible, because there's so many things that are demanding our attention at all times and it feels selfish for us to be like actually, no, I'm going to sit here and I'm not going to do a single thing, and you can't get mad at me, and if you are, it's not my business.

Jermaine: 32:32

Exactly, exactly.

AuraScope: 32:34

Like it. Just it feels so awkward, even though it's incredibly human for us to value rest, like that's just what you need to do. You have to make time for yourself because if you don't, you are going to end up falling apart, and I've done that several times throughout the past several years because I felt like I was trying to do so much trying to keep other people happy, regardless of whether it was going to be a benefit or detriment to myself and my mental health. Like that is one thing that I absolutely learned yeah, that's a great lesson to learn.

Jermaine: 33:08

I think you hit the nail on the head with it. Feels selfish taking that time for yourself, but from old dude Krip like take that time like people who love you and understand will yeah they'll deal with it. But in the ones who don't fuck them, like honestly, like you cannot, really cannot, worry about those people. But, yes, take that time because it's needed. You need to have your brain just like, take a little moment to just rest, don't hear anything, don't think about a problem, don't think about what you got to do tomorrow.

Jermaine: 33:40

Just take a little break. It is very, very helpful. So yeah, I'm glad you A called that out and B are doing that because, like two degrees, five years you've been running all these tournaments.

AuraScope: 33:57

I knew you were busy, but I didn't realize how like chaotic it is yes, the amount of times in which, like I will say, my my time in which I worked in like collegiate esports while also being a content creator was so it was just weird. It was so weird because it was like I didn't ever get a break from gaming. Yes, I was like, okay, there's, there's, there's a, a league event that's happening, and then I have to plan for like rocket league and then hold on. I gotta make sure that I highlight the apex team, but I also need to do this. There's also this event I have to talk to, like administration and how did do that? And then I'm like, okay, I'm gonna rest. Do I even feel like gaming? Right, exactly how it felt.

Jermaine: 34:39

I'm like oh man, I don't know if you feel like this, but I think like on the outside, looking in, you went through all that, gained all that knowledge and now so present you, you have like a wealth of experiences, things that you've gone through, things that you know that you can get through yeah to like start shaping your future and be like all right, I know I don't want to do this, and if I ever do this again.

AuraScope: 35:04

This is how I'm gonna do it absolutely absolutely oh my goodness.

Jermaine: 35:10

all right, you know what we've been dropping dropping advice for those listening throughout the podcast, which is always fun, but here we're going to give a specific piece of advice to whoever you choose to. So who would you like to provide some advice from Oriscope that you would deem beneficial?

AuraScope: 35:39

deem beneficial. Um, this I would say specifically for the younger like black girls and the young black women that are getting into this space um, we don't like, as a gaming community in general, we don't state enough the purpose and the strength in community. Please go and find the communities that are right for you. And if you're, you're sitting here and you're like I don't know what you're talking about. The first thing I did when I got onto Twitter because I knew that I heard that being in game and you got to be on Twitter I looked up, huh, up, huh.

AuraScope: 36:11

I wonder, like, if there's a community of like black girls that like to game. A good old google search will do you so many wonders, oh my god. And then I found black girl gamer. There's there's bgg, there's um, or black girl gamers, there's brown girl gamer code, there's the noir network, which I'm also a part ofers, there's Brown Girl Gamer Code, there's the Noir Network, which I'm also a part of. There is there's Community, there's the Twitch Black Guild, there's Melanin Gamers, like, literally, the list is. So it is endless.

AuraScope: 36:45

And I'm so glad that we have gotten to a point in this space where you can quite literally have the choice to figure out which community that you fit into best I am a member of the noir network and black girl gamers and I'm also a member of the twitch black guild, like that's just what I'm a part of, but I still support all of the other communities that are within the microcosm of black gaming and it's just. It makes your experience so much better because you know that you have people that you can look at, that you can either look up to or, you know, want to game with, because BGG has a community of hundreds of people. There are a lot of people in B2B, oh my goodness.

AuraScope: 37:32

And you will not be alone in any way, shape or form, and it's just. It's something that we just don't talk about it enough, and I think that we really need to, because once you get into like your little niche of people, it really is sort of like a fuck all that noise from other people.

Jermaine: 37:53

Yes.

AuraScope: 37:54

As long as you have the people around you, that you want to enjoy their presence and you hope that they enjoy yours, and you are just having a good time and you're doing what you want to do in the first place, like there's nothing else that can really like harm that.

Jermaine: 38:07

Yeah, 100% Community, and I've been running away from doing the community aspect of concentration for a while, like I'm just now starting to like embrace it. Because for me I was very self-conscious about what other people thought of me. One of my good friends, ronan, I just had him on the podcast. He got hardcore into D&D, like the pen and paper type shit, and I've always wanted to do that. But because where I was growing up I used to live in Montana and there's like three Black people in Montana, right, and so everybody who was doing D&D was white and I was like, oh, I guess I can't do this.

Jermaine: 38:51

Yeah, all that was white and I was like, oh, I guess this is. I can't do this.

Jermaine: 38:55

Yeah, all that, like the last two weeks we've been playing dnd and it's been the most fun I've had in content in regards to like gaming and I can't even remember it's, it's nuts yeah so, yeah, definitely reach out, find your community and because, like you said, it makes the noise around gaming that gets tossed at us easier to mute, easier to dial down, because you got a bunch of people around you who think like you, who are in the same mindset as you, and y'all are just making content, having fun and enjoying each other's company. Thank you for doing this. I had a blast just listening to you rattle off all your accomplishments, hearing where you're going to go in the future, where would you like to send the audience to check out your content?

AuraScope: 39:38

you can find me on all platforms, including twitch, twitter, instagram and tiktok, at oriscope tv, and then you can find me on youtube at oriscope period perfect, and to nobody's surprise, of course, you're on every platform that content exactly, especially when platforms want to be getting banned and kicked out the us and all that anyways.

Jermaine: 40:05

Anyway, you know. Um again, or. Thank you for doing. This has been a dope conversation.

AuraScope: 40:10

I hope you had fun absolutely thank you for having me. This has been a dope conversation. I hope you had fun. Absolutely Thank you for having me.

Jermaine: 40:15

It was a good time, no problem at all. And for everybody else out there, thank you for listening. I appreciate you, as always. If you haven't already, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast. We're on Apple Music. Google Podcasts doesn't exist anymore. We're on Spotify, alexa. I'm pretty sure if you search for Uploaded and Unfiltered on your podcast catcher of choice, the show will show up. Other than that, I appreciate y'all and, as always, protect your mental, keep creating content and I will talk to y'all in the next one. Peace. Thank you for listening this deep into the podcast. I truly do appreciate it.

Jermaine: 41:07

If you enjoy what you heard and you want to get this podcast to a state where I can actually make even more changes in creators' lives, please share the podcast with those that you know. They probably can get some enjoyment or some information from the podcast. Head over to upunbuzzsproutcom, that is, upunbuzzsproutcom, to check out where the podcast is hosted. On that. On that website, there will be a variety of different places where you can actually subscribe to the podcast. And if you do subscribe, I would appreciate a rating and a review on whatever platform you listen to, on whatever platform you listen to this on. Those ratings and those reviews help the podcast elevate into a higher level so I can become more, so I can become more discoverable in searches and things of that nature. Also, check out the website uploadedandunfilteredcom if you want to check out every guest that's been on the podcast, as well as links to their content as well.

Jermaine: 42:18

Last but not least, last but not least, if you want to financially support the podcast, you can do so at buymeacoffeecom. Do so at buymeacoffeecom. Slash uploaded and unfiltered. Set up a little. Set up a donation site there. All money that goes there will be directly poured back to the podcast to help for hosting and things of that nature. Again, thank you for listening. This has been a project that I have dreamed about building and it is here and we're doing it, and I am nothing but excited for its future. Until then, I'll see y'all in the next one.