最终幻想VII重生的Briana White Forges社区通过将自己的心戴在袖子上[采访]

I'm glad you touched on feeling things really big, because something I did want to talk to you about is your gaming channel. You cry a lot over there. I think it's hard to be vulnerable like that. And especially hearing that you felt kinda insecure about that as a teenager. How did you reclaim being vulnerable and crying in public as an adult?

It's crazy that you bring that up because it's true. I sorta made a career out of being the crying girl on the internet, which I did not set out to do. To me, it was never an option to be any other way. It's just who I am.

When I first started my YouTube channel, I played lots of different games trying to figure out what kind of gamer I would be on the internet. There's gamers who play Minecraft and there's gamers who play Uncharted .我是那种玩家的类型，我尝试了很多不同的事情，最终，当我扮演未知的人时，我确实与我可以谈论角色及其之间的关系以及为什么和那个场景如此有影响力的事实引起了共鸣。 People really liked that aspect of my gameplays.

So, that is what led me to The Last of Us , which is an incredibly dark and emotional game. At the same time I was playing Life is Strange which, like I said, just cracks me open in the best sort of way.同时玩这两个游戏就是一种激动人心的体验，我认为这巩固了人们想要从我那里看到的内容。 Which was fine, because that's who I am.

I sort of fell into being a story-based gamer from there. Because that's who I am, that's what people wanted to see. They want to see authentic reactions, they want to see people feeling things.

Oftentimes, I'll get comments like: “I'm a 52-year-old man, I haven't cried in 20 years, but I cried watching your content.”我认为这是一个巨大的自豪感，我的内容可以帮助人们，就像我们之前谈论的那样，从远处有一种让他们感到安全的感觉。我认为这真的很漂亮，我的内容可以帮助他们稍微打开一个人的心，使他们感到安全。

I love your philosophy about what a Strange Rebel means to you. Could you talk about that a little bit?

I had always grown up feeling a little out of mainstream. I was never very popular, I was never very normal. And I always very much wanted to be normal, but, somewhere along the line in high school, I grew out of that.

I had a friend, actually, who was completely, loudly, and unapologetically weird. In the best sort of way.作为高中剧院的一个戏剧孩子，我们都像：“我们不正常，我们不属于主流，那太好了！ That's so much more fun than being normal.” And I think that's where I picked up this like: “Being average, being normal… that's not something you should want.”

I took this idea of being a rebel to mean going against the mainstream, but not in a bad way. Not in a way that's “wears all black and is angsty and mean”. I don't want to be a rebel in that I want to hurt other people. I want to be a strange rebel. I want to be a rebel in a way that makes the world a little bit better. I want to be a rebel in the fact that I do cry on the internet and I don't feel bad about that.

It's easy to be mean to others. It's easy to close your heart off when you've experienced bad things. But it's strange and beautiful to do the opposite of that. I want people to embrace being rebelliously compassionate and rebelliously kind. That's sort of where Strange Rebel comes from and that's really a huge part of my mission.

I wanted to ask about the channel and how you've seen that community grow since Final Fantasy ?

太神奇了。 I mean, when I started out on the internet all I ever heard was that it's a terrible place. That's all I ever heard. I heard about harassment, and women being chased off platforms, and I heard about toxicity in gaming. But, what I found on the internet is that most people are really good and kind, and they just want to share their passions.

I started my channel reading every single comment that was left on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, whatever platform. I'd read every single comment, every single message that someone sends me. And I pretty much still do to this day, which is a lot harder now, but I really make an effort to do that.因为如果有人竭尽全力观看我的内容，然后给我留言说：“我喜欢这个”，我想偿还他们向我展示我的时间，并至少阅读它并给他们带来的时间，并给他们带来像我这样的时间，如果可以的话，我想给他们带来时间。 I've found that when I engage with them, that only comes back to me tenfold. Because they're good people, and I like them. I like them as people.

我的意思是，现在，我们的一部分是一个非常了不起的，繁华，繁荣的不和谐，在我们有电影之夜，有一个烹饪俱乐部，我们刚刚开设了一个读书俱乐部，我们每个月进行视频群聊，我们每周两次一起玩游戏。 We are there for each other. We meet up at conventions with each other. People in my Discord have found love. I mean, a couple people in my Discord have gotten married after finding each other in my Discord!

I cannot state enough just how proud I am of being able to bring people together in that way because they no longer feel alone. What better thing could I do in this life than bring people together? To celebrate each other, be there for each other, support each other in hard times, and share each other's passions. And all in an amazingly respectful way.

They're so generous. We've raised over $50K for charity, just in my Discord in the past four years.

The fact that Final Fantasy is a huge part of my channel, I do think that that really brings in a good audience. A good group of people that care about the world through the amazing stories that Final Fantasy tells.

But really, I don't care much for numbers, how many subscribers I have, or how many views I get on a video. What I care about is the fact that people have found others like them, that give them faith in humanity, that give back to others. They're not alone in this universe anymore. That's everything to me. That's so much more important than everything else.

Community building is huge, and it sounds like you've curated a wonderful community.

I try, but I don't do it alone.我有一个社区经理杰夫（Jeff），他在运行所有这些活动和计划的工作非常出色，就像我们每年有一个游戏铁人三项赛，我们都在玩游戏并参加比赛以筹集更多资金。 We've even had a custom Dungeons & Dragons Strange Rebel Gaming themed one-shot! We've done so many amazing, incredible things because of Jeff.

I mean it when I say I haven't done it alone. Every person who joins the community is as much a part of the community building as me. And I try to throw that back to them as much as I can. And people say: “Thank you for making the Discord.” No, thank you for being a part of it! It's not me in there chatting all day, it's you all.

我想在离开之前问问，现在您的生活中有什么都带给您欢乐，无论您正在玩的游戏，您正在观看的东西，生活中的人们。 What's fueling you right now?

Well, the holidays are coming up, and I'm a big family person. So, being able to see my family is everything to me. I'm excited to see everyone.

Actually, after this, I'm making a sweet potato casserole that can feed 30 people.

Do you do the marshmallows on top?

No. So, I used to work at a restaurant called Ruth's Chris [Steak House] that has the hands-down best sweet potato casserole ever! Because it's, if you look at the ingredients, it's basically cake, but with a sweet potato base. The top is brown sugar and pecans and butter and then it crisps up in the oven, so it's like a crust. It's almost like an upside down sweet potato cake.

It's mind-blowing. If you've never had it, you must!

太好了。 I am not welcome at Thanksgiving without it. I am not allowed to show up without this sweet potato casserole, every single year for like seven years now. People demand this sweet potato casserole. I just get better at it every year.

I love family. Family's really important to me, that keeps me going. Like I said, my dad was calling me the other day. My parents are very proud of me right now, which is really nice to hear!

And your mom's a gamer, too! How does it feel to have that family legacy now being in video games yourself?

It's crazy because my mom's a gamer and I keep asking her to play my game, and she won't do it!

The games for her are like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask , so with the Z-targeting, the camera's really manageable. 《最终幻想》 ，她错过了几代游戏，您学会了用另一支棍子控制相机，因此相机控制确实很难。 But maybe one day.

But still, they're very proud and very supportive, even if they can't play my game.

有关Briana White的更多信息，请查看她在《最终幻想VII重生》中的Aerith Gainsborough，她奇怪的叛军游戏社交媒体社区以及她在露丝（Ruth）的克里斯（Chris）官方网站上的招牌感恩节菜肴中饰演Aerith Gainsborough的比赛。