The gaming streamer Rachel “Valkyrae” received a strange gift on a podcast: the voodoo doll of her ex-boyfriend, the Twitch streamer Michael “Sonii” Sheenan, with whom she had not been in contact for three years. Sonii describes the situation as gross and disturbing. Many men on X, formerly Twitter, agree with him.
This was the situation: Valkyrae was in the podcast “Press Esc” with her friend Lisa “Alytuh.” Valkyrae opened a gift box and suddenly had a doll in her hand. Valkyrae asked her friend in shock: “Is this a voodoo doll?”
She cheerfully explained: yes, she had made a voodoo doll of Valkyrae’s ex-boyfriend. She really hated that guy.
Valkyrae initially seemed horrified and scolded her friend, saying it was crazy shit. Then she wondered if perhaps she could stick needles in the doll. Maybe it would actually harm him? In the end, she decided against it.
Ex-boyfriend calls the relationship “toxic on both sides”
What does her ex-boyfriend say about it? Her ex-boyfriend, a Twitch streamer named Sonii, reacted with irritation. He hasn’t spoken a word to Valkyrae in 3 years. But he finds this behavior so disturbing that he is reaching out to her.
He has been trying to distance himself from Valkyrae for 3 years now, but she apparently cannot let go. He accuses Valkyrae of using platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to incite hate against him. Their relationship back then was complex and toxic from all sides. However, they never became physically abusive towards each other. Both injured each other and have now healed those wounds at their own pace.
He hopes that Valkyrae will stop and offers her to reach out if she has a problem (via x).
Men find the clip disturbing – some women wish for a best friend like that
How are others discussing the clip? The clip is viewed in various ways.
Men say:
- Valkyrae constantly talks about her ex-boyfriend, but he never talks about her. That’s kind of weird.
- The whole clip is just extremely disturbing.
- “Even if it was a joke: Why is she making a voodoo doll? That’s just weird.”
- “Gross behavior. Did you break up with him because he didn’t want to get vaccinated?”
There are even nasty interpretations of the clip:
- “And people wonder why men commit suicide five times more often than women. That’s so fucked up. He’s not even a bad guy.”
- “And they are both old, lonely, and useless.”
Some women seem to love this on X:
- “I need a best friend like her!”
- “She’s so real, 10/10 gift” are also comments under the tweet.
Turbulent relationship – turbulent career
What do we know about Valkyrae’s relationship? Valkyrae was still a relatively small Twitch streamer in 2020, but was discovered by the head of YouTube Gaming, who saw great potential in her. He offered her an exclusive contract.
However, Valkyrae fell into a crisis when transitioning from Twitch to YouTube, because she was going through a difficult time in her personal life: At that time, she had moved into a new house with her partner but had trouble with the neighbors who kept her awake at night. This stress in the new house led to a relationship crisis, and Sonii moved out of their shared house. Valkyrae fell into a creative crisis and hardly made any videos.
But the COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a stroke of luck for her career. Starting in September 2020, she showcased the game “Among Us” with a circle of streamer friends, and her viewer numbers exploded. Her living situation also improved: Valkyrae moved in with Twitch streamers like Pokimane.
Later, Valkyrae and Sonii reignited their relationship, but the breakup finally came in 2021.
Statements from Valkyrae suggested (via reddit) that Sonii was unable to cope with the fact that Valkyrae’s career on YouTube was skyrocketing while his own career as a Twitch streamer stagnated. The relationship is said to have always been turbulent, with them breaking up once a year for five years.
Valkyrae said she desperately wanted the relationship with Sonii to work because he was the last of her life partners that her late father had met. Valkyrae often comes across as cheerful and happy, but she has also experienced the dark sides that one encounters as a gaming star on the internet: Streamer discusses the shockingly disgusting sides of being a gaming star
