Our very first interview is with the lovely Franticalle. If you were to come into Franticalle’s stream, you would be greeted by warm and welcoming viewers (or “Frands”), hilarious gameplay, and maybe a scream or two if you’re lucky. Franticalle, or Fran, as her community calls her, is an Austrian variety streamer and Twitch’s very own Scream Queen. She’s played games like Hollow Knight, Elden Ring, Final Fantasy, Hades, and has done her fair share of cooking and irl streams. Read on as we delve a little deeper into who Fran is exactly.
When did you get started streaming?
F: Oh gosh, July 2021 I think. Time is an illusion.
A: It really is.
Why did you get started streaming?
I was always into internet culture and Youtube. I was interested in doing YouTube for a while but I could not see recording myself doing things. And then through the pandemic I discovered twitch and streaming, and I was like, ‘Hey I can do that’, because I’m still recording myself and it’s live, and I can’t get anxious about it. I don’t have to do it over. I just say stuff and then it’s out there. It’s easier for me.
I love games, I think it’s a good fit for me, and I think I’m sometimes funny.
What do you love most about streaming?
I did not know that I would love this, but as you know I ramble, and I get very passionate about topics and I think it’s very nice to have this live feedback from people that are from all kinds of different backgrounds. At first I thought ‘yeah I wanna play games and be funny’, but then I got a lot of perspective from other people as well, and I learned a lot from it.
Another thing I love is how it became a creative outlet for me, and that it pushes me to try things that I wouldn’t try without streaming.
You talked about people coming in with different backgrounds. To the best of your knowledge, what is the farthest that someone has come into your stream?
Americans, I think. Or I guess Canadians are the furthest.
What has been the biggest struggle for streaming?
I think everyone who streams struggles with numbers, even if we don’t want to. It’s not just you who is responsible for the numbers. It could be that it’s Christmas season. People spend time with their family and are not as likely to be on twitch. There are low season for twitch, and you have to remind yourself that it’s not just about you.
Especially with being a variety streamer. A lot comes down to my personality. I have people coming in for specific games but if they don’t stay after I finish that game, then it feels like they didn’t like my personality. Even if that’s not true. Some people are just passionate about something specific, and if I don’t do that specific thing anymore, they leave, and that’s fine. But there’s this voice in your head that says ‘yeah they don’t like you’. But they don’t have to like me, right? Still it’s a struggle.
In your life, who would you say is your biggest supporter?
Apple. Shoutout to Steve Jobs.
[pause for mutual giggles]
For those who don’t know. Who is Apple, and what is their relationship to you?
So due to circumstances in stream, we coined my boyfriend (whose real name isn’t out there) Apple. So we all just call him Apple now. He’s my biggest supporter. We are both realistic. He doesn’t overly hype me up, but he is supportive. Streaming is time consuming, but he gives me the time to do this and he helps a lot with technical stuff that I just don’t know much about.
If he has ideas he also suggests stuff to me. In general, he never made me feel bad about it. He also drove me to Twitch Con from Vienna to Amsterdam. I don’t have a driver’s license so he did the whole drive, which is a lot. Even though he’s not a big part of twitch itself, and he’s not really interested, he’s interested for me if that makes sense.
What is your favorite console?
Oh boy. Even though I don’t have one at the moment, I feel like I have the most memories on PlayStation 2. I grew up as a console gamer. We didn’t have a PC when I was younger. I just have fond memories of playing on a PlayStation. And I think I’ve always liked their controllers best. I also have good memories with Nintendo, but I’m more of a PlayStation gal.
Sorry to Xbox fans but Xbox controllers are so clunky and big. My dainty hands that are not as dainty as I want them to be are not happy with them.
What is your favorite game?
So my favorite game of all time is Ōkami. It’s about Japanese mythology, basically. It takes a spin on it, but it has a lot of elements from Japanese mythology. I remember that I was too young for the game and now that I am an adult I do understand why there was an age restriction on the game.
The art style is amazing, the characters are funny, and it was the firsts game that I finished by myself! I didn’t need the help of my older brother to finish it. And I later realized it was one of the first introductions to Japanese culture for me, which I am a big fan of to this day. I even got a tattoo of it on my thigh!
Do you prefer to dress more casually, or more dressy?
Depends on my mood really. Like, when I started streaming I always had this idea that I would make an effort on my looks. I thought that I should treat it as if I were going out to meet someone, right? And then I realized that I don’t have that many nice clothes. I mostly wear T-shirts and jeans. So I thought that I would wear casual clothes.
And then I thought, ‘ Hmm, I really don’t want to put makeup on every time I stream because it’s a hassle and I’m lazy.’ So now I’m in between where it depends on my mood.
If you could have one celebrity watch your twitch stream, who would it be?
Well, I’m a huge fan of the band Trivium and they all stream. Their lead singer, Matt Heafy, streams very frequently on twitch, doing music things. He is my crush*, but Apple knows so all is good. They also stream their concerts for free, which I think is pretty cool.
What advice would you give to a Franticalle who is doing her first stream?
I’m trying to think because I do remember my very first stream vividly. I think I would say don’t try to please viewers who are ‘poopies’. Like, I remember when I started. You’re talking the whole time because if eventually someone comes in and you’re not saying anything, they won’t stay. But it can happen that someone will come in saying ‘why do you do it like this?’ or ‘you are dumb for doing it like that’. Those backseat gamers.
I had that happen to me in the beginning. I tried to accommodate to this person because I really didn’t know what to do. They were the one person talking in chat, and I didn’t want to lose that person. Afterwards I said ‘No, f*** them.’ He never came back, he was just there to be mean. I wish I didn’t accommodate to them. There was no point to it, there was no benefit in it, and it only made me feel bad about myself.
I would basically tell little Franny that not every viewer is worth being kept, I guess. Not every relationship is to be maintained.
Are there any games that you are looking forward to this year?
I am looking forward to Silk Song. There is no release date for it, but they said it would come out within a year which has to be 2023. So I’m super super excited for that. Hollow Knight was amazing. If Ōkami hadn’t stolen my heart then Hollow Knight would have probably.
And I’m also excited for Tears of the Kingdom, the Zelda game.
For the Fran fans, do you have any projects or any ideas that you are planning this year?
I have smaller ideas coming up. We’re gonna do the Nova DNA reveal game, where viewers can guess what kind of breed she is. I also want to do more outdoor stuff because Spring is coming. I want to show Vienna a little bit more and it’s hard to do that when it’s cold or rainy. And I’ll see where the wave takes me. Stream pushes me to try more things like arts and crafts and stuff.
*It was decided that it would be a tie between Matt Heafy, and Frans other crush, Rami Malek.
I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Fran, and if you enjoyed getting to know her you can say so at the following links at Twitch, Instagram, and Twitter.
The Greenhouse 
Leave a comment