Spaghetto

Tresten (born: ),https://discord.com/channels/470440191728025625/1122754169602838558/1122792928931237949 better known online as Spaghetto, is an American gaming YouTuber from Washington. As of April 2023, the channel features co-commentary via a second channel member, Lars from Norway.
Tresten is one of the current hosts of The First Podcasthttps://www.youtube.com/@TheFirstPodcast/about alongside Lars, and formally musician Tiege (TJ).
==About==
Spaghetto posts a variety of Let's Play gaming content on a daily basis. Each video is approximately 5 to 20 minutes in length. At times, the channel will occasionally also upload livestreams, Q&A videos, vlogs, challenges, and cooking videos.
Over time, a typical Spaghetto video has become considerably more tightly edited for pacing and humor. However, Tresten still makes somewhat of an effort to include at least some part of each major segment in a game, to show the audience its progression.
==History ==
===Initial endeavors (2016-2017) ===
Tresten joined the YouTube website in 2015, although his first remaining video, a Let's Play of a Super Mario World ROM hack, was uploaded in January 2017. His channel originally ran on the concept of producing clean, family-friendly content.
He would initially find very modest success trying out mostly Mario-related games and ROM hacks, and a brief hit playing Pacman 1st Person 3D. In later years, he would come to view this video unfavorablyhttps://youtu.be/oR-xbReVNuQ?si=DUf1evqiReBXeJOH&t=107, though fan reception remains positive as an example of him being "young and endearing".
===Doki Doki Literature Club and growth era (2018-2019) ===
Tresten found more long-term success after delving into Doki Doki Literature Club (and its surrounding modification scene) in 2018. By August 2019, his subscriber count had shot up to over 10,000.
Over time, Tresten began a project called "Team Spaghetto", focused on creating brand new Doki Doki Literature Club mod content uploaded as videos. The Team Spaghetto project consisted of several creators and collaborations over a number of years. Some users who assisted with writing, coding, and art were UltraStarwarsFan, Joel Deacon, ComboDev, Steve2138, ShinobiHomie, LunaticRabbit, Slightly Simple, hUser, and Maddie.
Spaghetto would still also produce a large amount of variety content, though this was often dwarfed by DDLC content in terms of views. Additionally, a Discord server was created for his channel which he maintained ownership of, though his participation in it varied.
===Initial podcast efforts (2019-2020)===
A brief foray into podcasting, "The Pastacast", was hosted on the channel in 2019. This show focused around Tresten and his real-life friends, including an eventual co-host of The First Podcast, Tiege. As of 2023, all uploads of this podcast have been privated or deleted.
Another podcast attempt, "The Spaghetto Podcast"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spaghetto-podcast/id1522246052, was created in 2020 with co-host Madison Rosenblum from The First Podcast. The show initially achieved a decent amount of buzz due to an episode with Merryweatherhttps://twitter.com/SpaghettPodcast/status/1281690756768346112, which ended up being leaked early by a surreptitious recorder who was found out to be stealing a variety of other people's content. By that December, however, the show had fizzled out and no new episodes were produced.
===Decline of DDLC content (approximately 2021-2022)===
At several major points, Tresten would publicly disclose disillusionment with creating content centered around Doki Doki Literature Clubhttps://www.reddit.com/r/DDLCMods/comments/aro9ol/possible_goodbye_to_the_literature_club/. At first, this was ameliorated by long breaks from producing said content, as well as forays into other visual novel series. He would still continue to create DDLC content for a few years.
As the years passed, uploads of Doki videos became more infrequent, in favor of other games such as Friday Night Funkin' and Among Us with other YouTubers. He would often livestream, simply playing whatever game interested him at the moment instead of worrying about strategy.
Eventually, streams and video uploads in general started becoming more infrequent. The final DDLC video of the era on his channel was released in June 2022, after which the entire channel went silent for the rest of the year.
=== Quiet period and retooled return (2022-2023)===
The channel remained quiet for several more months in 2023, though he would tease an appearance as a guest on a podcast with a "YouTube Short" in March (albeit uploaded as a regular video). Behind closed doors, he quietly left Team Spaghetto around this time, and the project team disbanded.
Tresten formally returned to YouTube in April 2023, posting a video entitled "Spaghetto's Return." to commemorate the event. At this time, he was announced as the newest co-host of The First Podcasthttps://discord.com/channels/470440191728025625/554385342317199380/1090375839130071050, a show he had appeared on as a guest multiple times in the pasthttps://audioboom.com/posts/7244803-an-onomatopoeia-for-the-heart-with-spaghetto-and-tiege-from-the-pastacasthttps://audioboom.com/posts/7459869-you-walk-into-the-woods-you-see-a-deer-with-spaghetto. 
Starting on April 3, 2023, the Spaghetto channel committed to an aggressive daily video release schedule, changing focus entirely from Doki Doki Literature Club content to a variety Let's Play gaming style. While his channel had lost virtually all of the momentum it once had in the interim, only picking up a fraction of the views it once received, the current format was one that Tresten himself had said he vastly preferred, and wished to continue for the indefinite future.
He also decided at this time to no longer produce family-friendly content, instead shifting toward releases oriented toward young adults with strong language and an edgier style. This would be slightly toned down in the future as streaming resumed, but otherwise became a modern staple of the channel.
=== Addition of second channel member, Lars (Early-mid 2023)===
In April 21, 2023, after some spur-of-the-moment recording decisionshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1tYQHjJWLQ he came to enjoy, Tresten brought on a de facto second member of the channel, Lars, his co-host from The First Podcast. With a few early exceptions (to finish a playthrough of Ghosts 'n Goblins that had already started), he has appeared as a co-commentator on almost every video since. While the channel is still presented from the "perspective" of Tresten, the two consider it a collaborative channel at this point.
Lars would immediately establish himself as a comic foil to Tresten, punctuating and breaking up the latter's play-by-play gameplay commentary with long stories, ridiculous non-sequiturs, and exaggerated bickering with one another. While he often plays the games being featured on the channel in his own spare time (and many game decisions on the channel come directly from his recommendations), he only directly plays on video if the game is multiplayer; otherwise, his presence is simply as a "color commentator".
He also started doing some of the thumbnail and title creation work behind the scenes; as of November 2023, the vast majority of new thumbnails are Lars's creations.
===Ostensible exit from DDLC content (Mid-2023)===
At the end of April 2023, Tresten decided to delete the original Spaghetto Discord server and merge it with the server for The First Podcasthttps://discord.com/channels/470440191728025625/554385342317199380/1100906180265640010, making that his new fan community home. The reasons for this were eventually revealed to be privacy concerns, a desire to start over, and worries about objectionable content that (previously unbeknownst to him) could give him trouble in his YouTube career. He offered his entire moderation team a seamless transition to the other server if they wanted.
On May 22, 2023, the channel posted a stream highlighthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnHbi5gKTm4 in which Tresten formally announced the ostensibly permanent end of Doki Doki Literature Club content on his channel. His cited reasons were a boredom with the format, a frustration with the community surrounding the game/its mods, and recurring themes in the game that were taxing on his mental health. The video noted that he would delve into other visual novel content in the future, such as the Ace Attorney series.
This format would continue intact throughout most of the year, as the duo would make their way through some of the Pikmin series, a variety of Itch.io horror titles, and various attempts to beat levels of Vampire Survivors (mostly unsuccessful on Tresten's part). The channel would also start having on other YouTubers for guest appearances, such as Solid jj and Monika :D.
On August 7, 2023, the Spaghetto channel was hacked by a scammerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOYm0498Ro0 targeting Lars's accounthttps://discord.com/channels/470440191728025625/554385342317199380/1138141152588071004, who renamed the channel to "Tesla US"https://twitter.com/FromNorwayVEVO/status/1688582080039636992 and started broadcasting livestream content to scam subscribers. 
Thanks to some swift assistance from fellow creators and an insider contact at YouTube, this hack was able to be reversed almost immediatelyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWkK-IQbT9s&feature=youtu.be; the channel returned to normal the following dayhttps://discord.com/channels/470440191728025625/554385342317199380/1138584458983915612.
===Return to DDLC content (October 2023)===
Beginning in October 2023, the channel began placing various hintshttps://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxuFZoWXKNo9vnwAHtrs8v6Gw9sdOvwi6Nhttps://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxlNs2JsPx7NCfShf9dq8OJsb9w1kiyWYq in the channel's community posts, videos, and Discord server suggesting that Tresten had changed his mind on Doki Doki Literature Club content, and intended to reintroduce it to the channel.
On October 19, 2023, the channel uploaded a short skit entitled "Monika Tracked Me Down Years Later?!", in which a formal return to DDLC content was announced, starting with a fully voiced playthrough of Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! with Lars. The duo also announced plans for collaborative content with other DDLC YouTubers, as well as mod reaction videos, and so on; the content would be released weeklyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODQasu3wSOE.
Stated reasons for this were an opportunity to have Lars experience the game/its mods for the first time, a renewed passion and maturity in regards to content creation, and an acknowledgement that this was ultimately what channel subscribers wanted.
The channel also began a renewed focus on visual novel content (such as Paradise Killer and Slay the Princess) at least twice per week. Additionally, the duo started livestreaming again on the platform every weekend; typically, they will either have Tresten play a game of some sort as Lars entertains the chat, or they will simply do a Just Chatting stream that goes where it may go.
=== Later developments (Late 2023+)===
In late October, the channel began posting daily art and memes in their Community tab, generally featuring humorous DDLC-related image content and video announcements. There was now also a daily YouTube Short, taking small clips and highlights from longer Spaghetto videos.
Another development of the year for the channel was the addition of "holiday specials"; starting in October, the duo have uploaded unique videos on Halloween and Thanksgiving, playing themed video games and having Tresten dress up in either a poor-quality or makeshift costume. There were stated plans to continue this for each major holiday.
Since late 2023, the channel continues to release videos but has been uploading more sporadically, with content returning in bursts and then disappearing for a while. The hosts have expressed numerous personal setbacks, regarding physical health and living situations, being the catalyst behind the decrease in frequencyhttps://discord.com/channels/470440191728025625/554385342317199380/1237786976896417842. 
==Personal life==
====Tresten====
Tresten lives in Washington, United States. He is of English and Dutch descent. He has been vegan since childbirth, though he has stated that it is not for ethical reasons, but rather because he was raised that way. He has a day job working for the government. 
In June 2023, he officially came out as gay on an episode of The First Podcast,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keAwjYfbll4 though it seems he is still somewhat in the process of figuring things out as of recent videoshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9_5jfBXIKg. Tresten uses "he/they" pronounshttps://www.youtube.com/@Spaghetto/community.
==== Lars====
Lars lives in California, United States. He is of Norwegian and Dutch descent; he is a distant descendant of the painter Johannes Vermeer. He identifies as male but uses "any pronouns".
Outside of the Spaghetto channel, he spends most of his spare time working on The First Podcast, doing freelance production work, and working a regular day job with a private company.
==Quotes==
=== Tresten===
*"Heyo, Spaghetto here." (starting phrase of most videos)
*"...so, this is the first time I've reached [game area]..." (when returning to said area after dying)
*"Die, monster! You don't belong in this world!"
*"Let's jump into it with our legs." (when starting a game)
*"Agony..."
*"So, Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaars..." (said during idle moments in an exaggerated way to annoy Lars)
*"Ow, you fucker!" (whenever getting attacked by an enemy)
*"Spooky like a dooky" (ironically reclaimed by himself after being mocked for saying it by Lars)
*"...Proof?" (whenever someone else on his videos mentions using the restroom)
*"I'm not racist! I promise! ...join the Discord!"
*"This time I'll make it through, though." (openly borrowed from Videogamedunkey)
=== Lars===
*"Bird up!" (before Tresten faces a boss)
*"Wait... that's it?!?!" (whenever a VHS horror game ends quickly and unceremoniously)
*"...things that Tresten says while having sex with a woman." (when Tresten expresses frustration and discomfort)
*"Yeah, that has the same energy as [someone obviously lying about their age]" (when Tresten say it's "the first time" they've reached a game area)
*"Why do my armpits feel like they're ejaculating?"
*"Almost theeeeeeeeeere..." (openly borrowed from Videogamedunkey)
*"Saucing the burrito"
==Trivia== 
*Tresten hates oatmeal and avocados.
*Tresten's diet mostly consists of pasta, both due to personally liking it, and due to it being vegan-friendly food.
* Due to multiple concussions, Tresten suffers from memory problems. He has grown to have a healthy sense of humor about it.
*Tresten has a fondness for "redheads" and "femboys".
*After experiencing problems with them in Super Castlevania IV, Tresten's mortal enemy is the crow.
*Lars often describes the way Tresten plays video games as akin to an "overconfident chihuahua".
*Tresten has several cats and a rabbit as pets.
*Tresten lives five minutes away from his podcast co-host Tiege.
*Tresten used to go by "TJ", but stopped after this led to confusion when hanging out with Tiege.
==References==
Category:Cooking YouTubers
Category:Gaming YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2015
Category:LGBT YouTubers