Tara — Babcock

She paused the game for a moment and took a sip of energy drink.

"Listen, guys," she told the camera, dropping the cheerful persona for something more raw. "I had a, let's say, 'difficult' day. It's tough being a girl who loves a lot of different, intense things. Sometimes you just feel like you're fighting on all sides." tara babcock

To the audience in her Twitch chat, she was the "Supermodel Nerd." They loved the crossover—the fact that she could talk about high-end fashion one minute and break down complex RTS (Real-Time Strategy) mechanics the next. She paused the game for a moment and

The chat erupted. Instead of the usual, "What setting are you using?" it was, "We get it," and "Keep going." It's tough being a girl who loves a

She wasn’t your average gamer, and she certainly wasn't your average model.

The room went dark, leaving only the sound of the Vegas strip in the distance. She looked at her phone—a text from 'J' (her long-term partner)—and realized that, just like the game, life was about adapting. She needed to set new boundaries. She was tired of the drama, but she was never going to stop playing, and she was never going to stop being herself.

She finished the match with a crushing victory, thanked her "gamers and beautiful women" supporters, and finally turned off the cameras.