Trashly isn’t new to streaming (she gained popularity through her Dead By Daylight playthroughs), but she is new to Elden Ring. The game has provided her with an entirely new fanbase – and a new set of challenges. Trashly, like many other Elden Ring players new to FromSoftware titles, is getting through the game by relying on magic. “I want to look fabulous and flowy and cast my spells from afar,” she tells me during our conversation. And boy, does she.
The bimbo mage
Trashly (who is a software developer by day) plays Elden Ring exactly how I do: with the help of her friends and her magic. As of writing, her current build has her Intelligence at 60, Vigor at 32, and Mind at 27, and she’s rocking spells like Carian Slicer, Glintblade Phalanx, Rock Sling, Glintsone Arc, and more. “I’m playing the way I want to play. I want to wear cool clothes. I don’t want to wear the ugly helmets that cover my gorgeous purple face,” Trashly insists, referring to her Tarnished’s design, which includes vibrant purple skin, giant red lips a la queer icon Amanda Lepore, and blue and green eyeshadow. “I think there’s some chess involved in the melee combat where you have to learn the moves and respond to those, and if I can just shoot spells from afar that’s how I enjoy playing.”
Years ago, Trashly tried playing Dark Souls 3 and found it so frustratingly difficult she quit after a few hours. She was so worried Elden Ring would be the same way that she only planned to stream it “as a joke” once or twice. “I got the disc version of Elden Ring so I could resell it,” she laughed, “I was so convinced I wasn’t gonna like it.” But Elden Ring’s open world offered so much variety and Trashly’s Twitch chat provided heaps of advice that she soon grew comfortable with her mage build and began streaming it every week – as well as playing it in her spare time.
I think casting spells is more fun and fabulous
Trashly
“I think casting spells is more fun and fabulous,” she responds when I ask why she chose the mage class. “I watch other streamers and they get really excited about a new ax, and i feel like that’s how I feel when I get a new spell, I’m like ‘oh, is this a moon? That’s so cool’!” But Trashly acknowledges that her heavily magic-leaning build handcuffs her in certain situations. “I’m not that healthy – I have my intelligence way up but I die with just a sneeze from an enemy,” she admits. “Even if you go through the whole game as a bimbo mage, it’s still difficult – honestly there are several bosses that are in close quarters where bimbo magic doesn’t work well at all.”