Ironmouse's Marathon: Q&A, Eggs, and Nine Years On

Minutes before the event was set to begin, organizers realized Ironmouse was too exhausted from the subathon to perform karaoke. Rob told event staff that "the whole thing is going to be Q&A. She is too sick to sing. Um the subathon is really taking a toll."

Event organizers confirmed they had MC Scotty ready to run the entire Q&A, walking into the audience with a microphone to field live questions from fans. The decision meant replacing singing performances with direct conversation.

The shift preserved her voice for the remaining days of the subathon and let the audience get direct access to her.

Organizers were still retrieving a list of written questions during the panel setup. Rob proposed mixing in audience questions: "take a question from your list and then maybe take a question from the audience and you just like walk up to them if we have a hand cam." He added a caveat—"If you're uncomfortable doing that, we can stick to, you know, what's written as long as possible."

Staff would open doors at 3:15 p.m., with the show starting at 3:45. During this window, MC Scotty could gather questions from the audience. However, partway through setup, organizers discovered they apparently didn't have pre-printed questions and adjusted the plan: "I'll have everyone ask me before they speak it into the microphone."

To maintain civility, organizers said they would immediately stop questions about "doxing or super detailed related" matters. When the streamer joked she'd "just be mean" if someone asked something "dumb," staff reassured her they were "fine with whatever you know you guys are comfortable with," adding they wanted "to make sure it's a good show, not only for people here at Sam Japan."

Rob raised a concern about the event's logistical constraints: "especially because you're going to have to be locked in with this live audience." The streamer would remain on stage for the duration without being able to leave. She joked about a worst-case scenario—needing a bathroom break one minute before the panel started: "Wait until one minute before the panel. Can you imagine? I'm like, 'Guys, I have be right back. I got to pee.'"

Rob encouraged her to use the 30 minutes before doors opened to handle any physical needs, reminding her not to fall asleep during that waiting period. The conversation included joking speculation about voting, but the practical advice was to address these needs before the panel started.

She emphasized that "this time we know that it's going to happen," signaling that donors could be confident the funds would actually reach the charity. Later in the segment, she reiterated: "Again, 50% going to the immune deficiency foundation. And we love them. We absolutely love them. And now you can also uh, you know, donate and subscribe with the peace of mind that the money will definitely get there."

The reminder came during a $5 donation drive in chat. Rob initiated the train: "Maybe I got to start the train again here. So, if I do five, you guys are all going to do five, right?" Multiple viewers matched $5 subscriptions in succession. With the event 14 to 15 hours into its run, donations continued flowing as Rob acknowledged each contribution.

A fan asked about a character name, and Ironmouse initially said "Barka." Viewers in the livestream chat quickly pushed back, and she acknowledged the correction immediately: "Okay, it is Barka. Holo Rider says it's Barka. So, it's got to be—oh, no. Okay, Barka corrected. Barca corrected me."

She switched to the correct pronunciation and apologized directly: "It is now Barca. I'm so sorry. Barca, I'll be better." The moment illustrated the real-time nature of the event and her willingness to take feedback from thousands of viewers.

The audience laughed, and she moved on to the next question without dwelling on the mistake, keeping the energy light despite the grueling circumstances.

As the show approached, chat kept asking if there would be singing or a concert performance. Rob made the distinction clear: "No, no, no. Not a concert. It's not going to be a concert at San Japan." The reason was straightforward—Ironmouse was sick and they wanted to avoid overstraining her voice.

"It's a Q&A, so everybody in the audience is going to get to chat a little bit um with Mouse," Rob explained. This was deliberate strategy: by keeping her vocal output minimal during the San Japan appearance, she could preserve her voice for the remaining days of the subathon, which was still in its early hours.

The timeline for the event was strict. It was 3:30 p.m., with about 15 minutes of buffer time before the show would start.

Rob noted that the technical team at San Japan had been "really really good" and "very accommodating," though live event audio had proven a persistent headache throughout the afternoon.

The sock puppet character was presented as a potential reward for hitting the viewership milestone, but only if the timing aligned with the panel itself. It served as a concrete incentive for viewers to push the livestream numbers higher.

Rob joked that the ants were hungry for Subathon because "you get sloppiest with Cheerios is in the middle of Subathon," suggesting the crumbs were an attractant. She'd apparently left a trail of them in previous marathons.

The topic veered into self-care, with chat asking if she'd been showering during the event. She confirmed she showered daily—"every day." Rob noted that showering every day is a good sign that you're not depressed, and Ironmouse agreed it made sense, explaining that if she skipped a shower, she knew she was in a rut.

The conversation moved to her custom soap line. She explained that Cheeky, the soap company, had sent her scent samples and asked her what scents she liked. After testing samples and telling them her preferences for scent notes, they sent her options. She sat with them for a week or two but couldn't decide. Her mom ultimately made the final choice. "Thank my mom for the soap smelling like that," she said.

A fan asked how Ironmouse became such a big Cinnamoroll fan. She answered with unexpected candor: "I've talked about it on stream before where I lied for a time and I said that I loved Bots Maru because I wanted to be different and edgy and be like, 'Oh my god, I'm not like any other girl in the world. I like Botmaru.' But it was a lie. I like cinnamon roll."

The admission was framed humorously but carried real reflection. She'd performed a version of herself to stand out in her early streaming days, only to later embrace what she actually enjoyed. The joke landed with the live audience, who laughed at the confession.

She went on to describe her early attachment to Cinnamoroll with deliberate absurdity: "Once upon a time, I was born and I knew that I had to worship a tiny dog." The live audience response was enthusiastic screaming—they appreciated both the humor and the vulnerability.

The exchange highlighted how streamers often build personas and sometimes have to unpack the parts that weren't authentic. In this case, the fake edginess gave way to genuine fandom, and she was willing to admit that contradiction to a crowd of fans.

A fan asked how Ironmouse stays productive and motivated given the demands of streaming with chronic illness. She didn't sugarcoat the reality: "It's difficult because there's a lot of days where you just don't have the motivation or the energy or everything hurts and you feel really gross."

But she offered a concrete strategy: "At the end of the day, I think about my family, I think about my friends, and I think about my community, and I think about how happy I get every time I stream. Uh, and I give myself a little push." The key was identifying specific sources of joy rather than trying to manufacture motivation from nothing.

She emphasized that finding those sources took time: "You got to find things that make you happy. And even though sometimes you might not be able to find it right away, um it might take a long time, but once you find it, you can use that as a motivator to help at least a little bit."

When the audience member mentioned medication, she nodded: "And then meds. Yes, [laughter] meds to help a lot." The joke landed—medication was not separate from motivation but woven into the same strategy of keeping herself functional.

The conversation shifted to companion choices. Ironmouse recalled using Raul, a ghoul companion, during her playthrough. The fan mentioned taking Boone, another companion, and recounted how he delivers a specific line—"Thumbs down, you son of a bitch"—if you have him kill Caesar.

Both discussed their mixed feelings about other companions. The fan apologized for hating Veronica, another companion in the game, calling her annoying. Ironmouse acknowledged the sentiment without pressing the issue further.

She credits Daryl, the songwriter, with capturing internal feelings she wanted to release into the world. Recording and singing the track felt like bearing her soul to everybody.

The fan shared that she cried when she first heard the song. Ironmouse responded that she cried while singing it during recording, so they both experienced the emotional weight of the track. The fan now listens to it frequently and called it beautiful.

Beyond the immediate conversation, Ironmouse discussed her preference for recommending Kamen Rider Gaim to anime fans over her personal favorite, Wizard, because Gaim feels "very anime coded" and serves as an accessible entry point for people who want to explore the franchise further.

A separate fan asked about her favorite childhood book. Ironmouse chose "Where the Wild Things Are," noting that the monsters in the book reminded her of Labi Labi, a VShojo colleague. She jokes about this connection every time she thinks about it.

Her reasoning centered on her fear of ducks, which she described as hideous and terrifying.

She elaborated that ducks have teeth and creepy appendages that disturb her. Her visceral reaction to the question—"They're evil"—suggested this wasn't a lighthearted preference but a genuine aversion. The fan thanked her for the answer, noting it would be a memorable moment to take from the convention.

The fan explained that after starting to watch Ironmouse, she began donating plasma as an able-bodied person to help others, even though she described herself as "a little broke." She framed this as a direct way to contribute to society.

The conversation then turned to fashion. The fan asked Ironmouse what fashion photo shoot concepts she would like to see more in the world. Ironmouse expressed enthusiasm for Lolita cosplay and fashion, naming multiple types: female Lolita, gothic Lolita, and a darker, "creepy girl" style of Lolita.

The fan revealed she was a model in training seeking advice. Ironmouse complimented her appearance, saying she was gorgeous and expressing confidence that she would see the fan's face everywhere in the modeling world. The fan promised to make it count by the following year.

Asked whether she would choose Asuka or Rei from Evangelion, Ironmouse answered "Oscar" (the auto-caption appears to have misheard the character name). She emphasized her choice multiple times—"Always. Always. Always."—making clear it was a definitive preference.

She then joked that if she had not chosen Oscar, her mod Vel would "kill" her because that is his favorite. This light-hearted comment suggested the streaming community has playful dynamics around character preferences.

Later, a fan asked Ironmouse about her favorite outfit, and she identified Dora as particularly special while noting the difficulty of choosing among her designs. Another conversation touched on Power Rangers, where she chose Kyu as her favorite sixth ranger due to loving him.

Ironmouse laughed and immediately caught herself doing it during the conversation, exclaiming "OH CRAP, I'M DOING IT." The fan noted her dad always laughs at her for this habit.

The conversation expanded to other topics when the cosplayer mentioned she collects Ironmouse merch from conventions and is a cosplayer herself. She was dressed as Nine Cats and wore a Poptart accessory on her wrist.

When asked about her favorite model design, Ironmouse said Dora holds a special place in her heart and encouraged the fan to cosplay as her one day. The fan expressed interest in eventually cosplaying Ironmouse herself. Other topics ranged from Power Rangers preferences—where Ironmouse chose Kyu as her favorite sixth ranger—to Blue Bell ice cream from Texas, which a fan described as so good that people historically died rather than have it removed from shelves.

She identified it as "the mustached one," the sole Gundam show in her viewing history.

A separate fan asked if she planned to make Mexican music in the future. Ironmouse admitted she had no prior plan to do so, but the question made her reconsider. She suggested the possibility of pursuing Mexican music after being prompted, indicating openness to the idea if a compelling direction emerged.

Ironmouse noted that this was the first time the Q&A was filmed from a side camera angle rather than the typical front-facing setup she usually works with. Normally, a front-facing angle allows her to read people's lips and see them more clearly. Even though she expressed sadness about not seeing people face-to-face this time, she was happy to see them from the side.

She reflected that she always has fun meeting people and being able to see everybody. Despite the physical limitations of the side-angle setup, she emphasized her genuine enjoyment of panels and meet-and-greets as opportunities to talk to fans. The stream would pause during the meet-and-greet, which was set to last about one hour with 35 attendees and roughly 90 seconds allocated per interaction.

Ironmouse described her general experience at conventions: for the most part, people are very nice and sweet. However, she acknowledged that occasionally someone approaches her and makes her feel incredibly uncomfortable by saying disturbing things.

She revealed this has happened to her a few times since she first attended her first convention when she joined VShojo. However, she emphasized that such incidents don't happen often—just once in a while.

She noted that during the specific panel event, nobody exhibited weird behavior toward her. Rather, she received a message about somebody wandering around at the convention, prompting her to tell the audience to be careful.

Ironmouse joked about the realization that she has been streaming for nine years. She sarcastically claimed she couldn't possibly have aged during that time, playfully insisting there was no way she could be older after nine years of streaming.

She riffed on the concept of staying a particular age forever, initially joking about adopting Mitsuri's 'forever 17' approach before backing away from that idea, saying she would never want to be 17 again and would 'jump off a bridge' if forced to relive that age. She eventually settled on 'Forever 25' as an acceptable age, reasoning that 25 represents a fully developed brain. When chat playfully suggested she looked '6,666 years old,' Ironmouse adopted the joke and claimed she was '6,000 years old.' When asked about her actual age, she said she would not disclose it and joked that people should worry about their own life instead.

When making the eggs, Ironmouse was not on her oxygen because oxygen could explode near the heat. She limited the time spent without oxygen to approximately 10 minutes.

Ironmouse woke at 3:30 a.m. and had slept only four hours. She could not postpone the scheduled meet-and-greet, which was set to begin in 20 minutes.

The portion was so large that she managed to eat only half of it.

Someone present during the stream tried the eggs and said they tasted good. A viewer suggested the eggs would make a perfect breakfast served in a bun with some bacon and a nice cup of tea.