#week 10

Gaming communities, most people think of them and immediately go, "OH, TOXIC FANDOM..."

Well, today I'm gonna get into a very heartwarming community: Minecraft!

I know, I know, you're gonna say, "Isn't Minecraft toxic too?" Well, it depends. And today it's gonna be about Lizzie (LDShadowLady). Literally my mother 😭

She has built her community around a very family-friendly environment, often collaborating with her partner Joel (Smallishnbeans) and friends such as Oli (OrionSound), Jimmy (SolidarityGaming), Scott (Dangthatsalongname), and many, many more.

As Barbour (2023) stated, "it was the kind of content I was comfortable allowing my daughter to watch largely unsupervised, as the emphasis was on light-hearted fun, collaboration and creativity."

Honestly, I love watching her videos. Her community is incredibly supportive, and that's something that feels quite rare nowadays, especially online.

A very fun fact about Lizzie's community is that while she was "secretly" pregnant during TwitchCon, the REAL fans did not leak it. Most of the fanbase, including me, genuinely had no idea about it.

"Commenters across the internet were left stunned that ShadowLady had a baby, with many remarking how they'd watched her throughout their childhood and young adulthood" (Glaze, 2025).

And I think that says a lot about the community itself. In an era where people rush to post everything online for attention, many fans chose to respect her privacy instead. They understood that some moments belong to the creator, not the internet.

Even when someone leaked the pregnancy, people were quick to remind that it was Lizzie's news to share when she was ready. It really shows the level of respect that exists between Lizzie and her community.

Besides, in their series Empires SMP by fWhip, even though there are "rival-ish" roleplays and conflicts built into the story, Lizzie always keeps things light-hearted and fun rather than genuinely aggressive. She has consistently made an effort to keep her content family-friendly... although some of her friends, such as OrionSound, MythicalSausage, and even SmallishBeans, her husband, occasionally push that boundary a little more (Empires SMP Wiki, n.d.).

Of course, no community is completely free from drama. Every fandom has disagreements from time to time. But compared to many online gaming spaces that are, I would say, controversial, Lizzie's community feels like a breath of fresh air.

I think that's why so many people, including myself, have stayed around for years. It isn't just about Minecraft anymore. It's about the memories, the creativity, and the comfort Lizzie has brought to viewers throughout different stages of life.

And honestly? In a world where online communities are often criticised for being toxic, it's nice to know there are still corners of the internet that feel a little like home. 🩷

References:

Barbour, K. (2023). Minecraft YouTubers. In Women and Persona Performance (pp. 127-147). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33152-7_7 

Empires SMP Wiki. (n.d.). Fandom. https://empires-smp.fandom.com/wiki/Empires_SMP 

Okay, but can we talk about how gaming stopped being "just playing games" like a long time ago?😭 Because now it feels like gaming is basically its own social media universe. People aren't just gaming anymore. There are so many different ways people stay connected to gaming now🤭

Nowadays, they’re livestreaming, spending hours in Discord calls, watching Twitch streams like it’s a full-time hobby, dropping money on in-game skins, making TikTok edits and somehow getting emotionally attached to strangers screaming into a microphone during ranked matches 💀. And honestly? Sometimes people spend more time watching games than actually playing them. The Internet Turned Gaming Into a Community 🕹️ Online multiplayer didn't seem to be all that big before gaming was all about individual play. Back then, people mostly played with their siblings, cousins or friends sitting next to them on the same couch. Now everything feels connected.

Games like Valorant, Minecraft, Fortnite and League of Legends are no longer just a game. They have basically become online social spaces where people can spend hours talking, joking, arguing and making friends. Sometimes people do not even log into games because they seriously want to “win.” Let's be honest, some of the funniest chats are during games 😭.

When it comes to games such as Valorant where voice chat is half of the experience. Gaming in some way turned into a strange mix of competitiveness, friendship, and chaos. Gaming communities are social communities in which players continue to shift both within and between smaller communities in response to their interests and their experiences (Saldanha et al., 2023). And the truth is, it's so true online.

One day someone might be watching esports clips, the next day joining a Discord server, and later spending five hours queueing ranked games with strangers who somehow become online friends. Watching People Play Games Somehow Became Entertainment 📺🎧 I still think it is kind of funny that millions of people now spend hours watching other people play games online. But somehow… It feels like it makes sense.

Platforms like Twitch completely changed gaming culture. The experience of watching livestreams is quite different from watching normal videos as everything is happening in real-time. Audiences react immediately, spam emotes in the chat, clip funny moments and feel as if they were part of the stream. Sometimes streamers are not entertaining because they are exceptionally skilled at games, but because they are chaotic, funny, relatable and dramatic for absolutely no reason 😭.

A good example is streamers such as Kai Cent or Pokimane where the audience is not just watching the gameplay anymore. People usually stay for the personality, reactions and community interactions that occur around the stream.

Communities begin forming around streamers in the same way fandoms form around celebrities or TV shows. Inside jokes, memes and even streamer language eventually becomes the culture of the community. Hamilton et al. (2014) indicate that communities aren't just built around games but also streamers themselves. Honestly, I think that explains why livestreaming feels so personal compared to traditional entertainment. Gaming Communities Can Feel Like Real Friendships🤝 One thing I find really interesting is how online gaming friendships can sometimes feel surprisingly real. These people connect on Discord servers or livestream chats, on random matches and suddenly they start talking daily.

For many people, gaming communities create real emotional connections that simply happen online instead of offline According to Tausczik & Huang (2020) an online community is a “knowledge community” that is brought together by shared interests by participation and emotional investment. Players constantly help one another by sharing strategies, explaining mechanics, discussing updates and helping newer players improve.

In games like Final Fantasy XIV, players constantly share strategies, dungeon mechanics and character builds through online communities. But Gaming Spaces Are Not Always Welcoming⚠️ At the same time, gaming culture also has a darker side that people do not always talk about enough.

Gaming spaces can become extremely toxic, especially towards women, LGBTQ+ players, beginners, younger players as well as people considered “bad” at games. Sometimes people are judged immediately based only on their voice during voice chat. And honestly… Some gaming communities still act like gaming only belongs to a certain type of person. Taylor & Phillips (2026) addresses the stereotypical representation of a “gamer” as a male youth, which has historically been linked to a gaming culture dominated by men. This attitude still exists in competitive games to this day.

For example, female Valorant players sometimes receive unnecessary harassment the moment they speak in voice chat. Instead of focusing on the actual game, some players immediately become rude, dismissive or weirdly aggressive for no reason. Which honestly says a lot about how online communities can sometimes reflect real-world biases too.

However, there are many gaming communities that are slowly growing more inclusive. More creators and players are openly discussing sexism, harassment and toxicity in gaming spaces instead of pretending those issues do not exist. So gaming culture now feels a bit complicated. It can feel incredibly welcoming and incredibly toxic at the exact same time. Gaming Is Basically Digital Culture Now 🎮✨ What makes gaming so interesting now is that it no longer exists separately from internet culture. Gaming now overlaps with live streaming, fandoms, influencer culture, social media, online identity and digital communities.

Week 10 Follow-up Photobook

This week I continued developing Version 4 of my photobook, focusing entirely on Karangahape Road. Rather than taking new photographs, I spent my time reviewing, selecting, and sequencing the images I had already captured. The main goal was to create a stronger visual narrative that tells a story about the people, culture, architecture, and everyday life that make K Road unique.

It was an interesting process looking back through the photographs and discovering connections between them. I experimented with different image placements, considering how one photograph could lead into the next and guide the viewer through the environment. The stairways, street art, posters, alleyways, local businesses, and portraits of people all helped build a sense of place and community. I also paid close attention to colour, lighting, and composition to ensure the images felt connected as a cohesive series.

Week 10, Day 7 - Sneak Peek Comic!

Week 10, Day 6 - Eyes

Week 10, Day 5 - Cat!

Week 10, Day 4 - Two Pieces!

As you can already see, I noted what benefited one of the two pieces. But let me tell about the two characters.

On the left is a Original character named Yoko, she has been a to-go character that I've had for a long time. I will likely talk more about her when I give her more amazing art piece for her.