In July, “ice cream so good” became a meme thanks to Pinkydoll, a creator whose TikTok Lives involve her popping corn kernels with a hair straightener while robotically reacting to emojis and gifts. These livestreams reportedly net her more than $7,000 a day.
Pinkydoll is responsible for a lot of people now trying out being an NPC, or non-playable character, on TikTok Live. Some of them are questionable, but others are finding an audience, like creator Madison Ann’s frail Victorian child NPC.
Madison Ann, who has more than 80,000 followers on TikTok, tells the Daily Dot that she’s been doing the character for less than a month, and that Pinkydoll was the inspiration to try out some characters. She’d “come across AI/NPC cosplayers on live from Japan months ago. I thought how great it would be to do a funny character, but I was hesitant to do so because I was not sure it would catch on.”
Her frail Victorian child NPC, who’s lit by candlelight but often drinks from a modern cup, “got ill working in a match factory” and contracted tuberculosis, a disease that is apparently making a comeback right now.
“She is a new character, but I have been playing around with the idea ever since the trend of ‘10 things that would put a Victorian child into a coma,’” she says. “Another source of inspiration and was a sort of micro-trend, where girlfriends were filming their boyfriends/partners and commenting on how they sleep like frail Victorian children. The comments under those videos are absolutely hilarious.”
@peanutpollino Its long but worth it. @sweeneytoddbway #victorianchild ♬ Au Revoir – Sweet After Tears
There are already fan edits of her frail Victorian child TikTok Lives, and her followers suggest characters as well. Madison Ann also does a spot-on Jennifer Coolidge NPC and debuted a newer character named Jacob the Discord Mod, who has drawn out some transphobic comments and even death threats, after screenshots were posted outside TikTok without context.
@madisonannofficial We love a versatile queen 🤠 #ailive #liveai #npc #npclife #tiktoklive #live #pinkydoll #discord #discordmod #discordkitten #discordmodai #jennifercoolidge #jennifercoolidgeimpression #jennifercoolidgeai #actong ♬ original sound – Madison Ann
“The responses I care little for are inappropriate jokes about being transgender, FTM and MTF, and death wishes,” Madison Ann says. “It’s not fair to the trans community to be used as an insult or a butt of a joke because people can’t tell I have a drawn-on beard. To also wish for me to be ‘euthanized’ or ‘burned to death’ or even simply to want to ‘kill it,’ I think is very feeble-minded and shows how easy it is for people to detach from humanity from behind a screen.”
Still, Madison Ann says she’s never had “so many viewers, let alone gifts sent” and that her followers are “incredibly supportive and always offer kind words and encouragement.” And while she doesn’t make nearly what Pinkydoll does, doing the NPCs has given her an “opportunity to further practice my art.” She’s planning on debuting two new characters this month.
“For me personally, how much I make depends on a few factors,” she says. “What time I go live, what character goes live, what gifts are given during lives, and how long I stream on live. I have made as little as $14.63 all the way to $388.21. If anyone is looking to try, I recommend watch[ing] other AI/NPC lives and find something you could do that is different.”
