In what is almost certainly the most wholesome video of 2020 so far, Destiny content creator Fallout Plays and his pal Ryan (AKA fellow streamer, Rhythm) helped carry a 9-year-old child to max rank in Destiny 2’s competitive multiplayer playlist.
The nearly 20-minute video is mostly gameplay, where Fallout and Ryan have lovely conversation with CJ, the Destiny-loving child. There are highlights of CJ making clutch plays, as well as the kind of nonsense you’d expect to hear from a kid over several hours.
Having worked with Fallout Plays before on our random roll weapon guide, we messaged him a few questions about the experience with CJ.
Fallout told Polygon that meeting CJ was a complete accident. Fallout and his friends regularly do competitive carries, where viewers from Fallout’s Twitch stream put their names in a raffle. If they win, Fallout and friends invite the player to their group and help them rank up their Destiny account for a few games. But with CJ, Fallout said he and Ryan knew immediately that they were taking this kid all the way to Legend.
The experience was challenging, but not in the ways one might expect, Fallout said:
The hardest part? It was honestly keeping myself from accidentally cussing here and there in front of such a nice kid. I was worried when I first learned we were going to be playing with someone so young – sometimes younger guardians can be a little scattered or inexperienced, but CJ was great. There were a few games where he finished top of the leaderboard, and every time my partner and I gave him loadout or strategic suggestions, he was happy to oblige.
Fallout told us the entire experience with CJ took about six hours. When we asked him why he did it in the first place, he mentioned his love for Destiny’s PvP, and wanting to help others reach their goals. CJ wasn’t planned; he was just in the right chat at the right time.
But Fallout feels lucky to have gotten to play with CJ at all:
I was surprised at how respectful and talented CJ was. Again, kids can be a grab-bag. He was so polite, so eager to discuss the game and have fun and learn. He was also whipping out a ton of random weapons from the clear blue sky. A few times we saw him using the Leviathan’s Breath – an Exotic Power Weapon Bow/Arrow combo that very few people use in PvP at all, let alone the most competitive playlist … but he pulled it off! He was comfortable switching between sniping, shotgunning, pretty much anything.
Fallout’s favorite part of the experience is also the most adorable. At the end of the video, after they took CJ all the way to Legend, Fallout and Ryan took a moment to talk with CJ’s dad — who had been watching his son play and occasionally laughing in the background.
The streamer and father took turns thanking and complimenting each other. CJ’s father was understandably grateful that a well-known streamer would take the time to play with his son, talk to him like a real person, and help him reach his goals. And Fallout congratulated the father on raising such a cool and respectful kid.
According to Fallout, it was “just a really nice way to end a day of streaming.”