Ironmouse originally planned to pursue a career as a
coloratura soprano opera singer, but was diagnosed with
common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), an
immune disorder that has left her largely
bedridden and isolated. It has also led to a lung infection called
mycobacterium avium complex as she revealed in 2021. This required her to remain isolated from others, a situation which intensified in 2020 amid the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, she began to pursue a career as a
streamer instead, as she was "lonely and wanted something to do".—to stream with a digital avatar to conceal her identity. After discovering that there were a growing number of users referring to themselves as VTubers like Kizuna, she began to consider herself one. The Ironmouse persona was expanded into a character, which she referred to as a "bigger version of me" and being like a
superhero costume; her avatar usually takes the form of a horned
demon with pink and purple hair,
Growth, VShojo membership (2020–2025) Amid a growth trend for streamers in general, and especially VTubers, Ironmouse's audience on Twitch began to see increases over 2020 and 2021. The increasing revenue from her streams also allowed her to afford higher-quality health care. In turn, improvements to her condition enabled her to perform longer streams on a more regular basis. (seated, left) and Ironmouse (on screen, right) during a panel for
Anime Expo in 2024 Ironmouse is known for her frequent collaborations with Welsh YouTuber
CDawgVA; he had learned of VTubers via
Gigguk, one of his colleagues on the
Trash Taste podcast. After watching an Ironmouse stream on Twitch out of curiosity and finding her to be "really funny", CDawgVA brought her up during a
Trash Taste episode with
Hololive English member
Mori Calliope as a guest. The acknowledgement led to interest from Ironmouse, who had also been following CDawgVA's own streams. Her involvement began with a voice cameo in one of his videos, and later collaborative streams; CDawgVA described himself in an interview with
Dexerto as the "
straight man" to Ironmouse's "chaotic" personality, while Ironmouse has considered him "genuine". Over the course of the event, which ran for a total of 31 days through March 7, 2022, with nearly 172,000 subscribers in total by the end of the event. According to data from StreamElements and Rainmaker, Ironmouse was the eighth-most watched streamer on Twitch during the month of February 2022—marking the first time that a VTuber had made their monthly top 10. Discussing the event, Ironmouse felt that it was "the only time I didn't feel lonely because I felt like I had somebody there all the time. It was the least lonely I've ever felt in a long time." In December 2022, she was listed among the "heroes" on the Plasma Hero website for raising awareness about CVID and encouraging viewers to donate plasma. She has also received praise for encouraging donations to The Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF), a charitable organization which helps people suffering from conditions like hers through research and improving the quality of life of people suffering from primary immunodeficiency. According to StreamsCharts, Ironmouse was the second most-watched female Twitch streamer of 2022, behind
Amouranth. In March 2023, she won Best VTuber at The Streamer Awards. In June 2023, Ironmouse held a second subathon event as a charity event, with half of all revenue from Twitch subscriptions and Bits, as well as merchandise sales during the event, being donated to the Immune Deficiency Foundation. The subathon broke her previous record of 172,000 subscribers and set a new record of 205,488 subscribers. '''''' On December 7, 2023, Ironmouse won the award for Content Creator of the Year at
The Game Awards 2023, becoming the first VTuber to win in the category. In February 2024, she repeated as Best VTuber and was also nominated for Streamer of the Year at The Streamer Awards. On September 10, 2024, YouTube suspended Ironmouse's
VOD channel, supposedly due to
copyright strikes. On September 20, her main YouTube channel was also suspended; in response, she tweeted that she was "incredibly sad and shocked". Both of Ironmouse's YouTube channels were later reinstated on September 23. On September 24, Ironmouse broke the all-time subscription record for a female streamer on Twitch for the third consecutive year, exceeding her previous record of 205,488 subscribers. That same month, Ironmouse overtook
Kai Cenat as the most-subscribed channel on Twitch, setting a new all-time record for the service on September 30. Her record lasted until November 2024, when it was broken by Cenat. In December 2024, Ironmouse once again won the Streamer Award for Best VTuber, and was also nominated for Best Marathon Stream and the Sapphire Award. An annual report from StreamsCharts showed that Ironmouse was the most-watched female streamer on Twitch in 2024. In June 2025, Ironmouse was featured by Canadian rapper
bbno$ in his song "1–800"; the rapper also
cosplayed as Ironmouse after meeting a goal for likes on
X.
Departure from VShojo (2025–present) On July 21, 2025, Ironmouse announced that she had resigned from VShojo effective immediately, accusing the agency of having not paid her a "significant" amount of money, and of owing the Immune Deficiency Foundation at least $500,000 in unpaid donations from her Twitch revenue. In the aftermath of her announcement, all of VShojo's remaining members also publicly resigned from the agency, with former members such as Kson also presenting similar allegations of unpaid revenue; the company's shutdown would be announced on July 24, three days after her video's release. Concurrent with her departure, Ironmouse launched an independently-run charity campaign for the Immune Deficiency Foundation; in two days, the fundraiser surpassed $1 million. In August, she appeared on
Rolling Stone's list of the 25 Most Influential Creators of 2025. == Philanthropy and CVID awareness ==