IRL streaming has taken over social media.

Skinny-jean-wearing, taboo-busting, red-pill-swallowing, male content creators have flooded the internet with countless hours of footage. They walk the streets of Miami, rating girls on a scale of 1-10, mogging pedestrians and giving advice on how to become a crypto millionaire.

Capitalizing on the average consumer’s tendency to hate-watch and a fanbase of lonely young men (“incels,” in internet speak), the IRL streaming bro-sphere has never been stronger.

These men live brazenly. They unapologetically encourage debauchery. The pinnacle of success is being surrounded by bikini-clad OnlyFans models and being rich enough to turn down their shallow advances. They promote gambling apps, shady investment management courses — they get their accounts banned for violating community guidelines and blame the “matrix.”

Famous faces are Andrew Tate, Adin Ross and Sneako. But amidst the bro-sphere, there is a new sub-genre of creators on the rise. 

Men obsessed with reaching aesthetic perfection, or, as it’s more popularly referred to, “looksmaxing.” Leading the looksmaxing movement is 20-year-old IRL streamer Braden Peters, or, as he is more popularly referred to, Clavicular. 

“ASU frat leader mogs Clavicular” made headlines (sigh) for how ridiculous it was that it made headlines. While IRL streaming at Arizona State University, Peters met up with Varis Gilaj, a student and fitness influencer. They chatted on stream, posed for a picture and moved on.

To the untrained eye, that’s all that happened. But if you are fluent in looksmax, you can clearly see that Clavicular was brutally frame mogged. The ASU frat leader’s massive shoulders and symmetrical lateral muscles made Clavicular look subhuman.

This is actually a pretty big deal.

Clavicular built his online presence around his bottomless ambition to “ascend.” In other words, to maximize his genetics, achieve perfect facial ratios and score high on the PSL scale. By openly discussing the extreme measures he takes to achieve this, Clavicular has found virality.

At age 14, Peters began taking testosterone and doing steroids. He regularly injects himself with peptides and fat dissolvers to stay lean. He claims to use meth to suppress his appetite. He uses eyeliner and concealer to accentuate his features.

He is often seen on stream, bonesmashing by pounding his cheekbones with a massage gun. Bonesmashing is the act of repeatedly hitting your face with a hammer, creating small bone fractures with hopes of a more angular and defined regrowth. Disproven by doctors and scientists to have any real positive effects, Clavicular claims it’s transformed his appearance.

Clavicular chronicles his looksmaxing ventures on Kick, the streaming platform home to his channel and almost 250 thousand followers. He regularly attracts upwards of 10 thousand viewers per stream through Kicks clipping program, and Peters says he’s getting one billion views monthly across all platforms.

According to Clavicular, if you aren’t looksmaxing, you aren’t “lifemaxxing.” So, while doing drugs and breaking your bones might be painful, nothing compares to the hell that is being unattractive. 

All seeking to capitalize on his unfiltered nature, Clavicular spreads the looksmax gospel to any red-pill podcast bro that will listen.

My first introduction to Clavicular was a clip of him on the Michael Knowles show. While discussing the practical applications of looksmaxing, he shared his thoughts on who would win in a hypothetical presidential race between Gavin Newsom and JD Vance. 

“(Vance) is subhuman and (Newsom) mogs,” Peters said. Translation — Newsom is attractive and Vance is not. Therefore, Newsom wins the race. Clavicular believes that success is entirely dependent on how well you conform to metrics set by the PSL scale.

“(Vance has) a very short total facial width to height ratio, he’s obese, uh, very recessed side profile. Whereas Newsom is (a) 6-foot-3 Chad.”

The PSL scale forms rankings by evaluating and dissecting one’s eyes, nose, jaw, lips, facial harmony, cheekbones, skin, hair and health. 

The scale begins at subhuman (ranked 0.25-1.5) and goes all the way to Tera Chad and Tera Stacy (7.75-8). Though, the likelihood of one being a Tera Chad or Tera Stacy is about 1 in 12 billion.

The majority of people fall in the Mid-Tier Normie and Mid-Tier Becky category (3-4.5). 

On the Fresh and Fit podcast, hosted by alt-right influencer Myron Gaines, Clavicular was asked to rank a panel of women. With a straight face, he went down the line, providing a detailed explanation for each assessment.

“Lower your body fat percentage, you’re pushing a 5.5.”

“Her super orbitals are suboptimal. She really doesn’t have any eyebrows.”

“Her nose is much too bulbous.”

“We’ve got a super downgrown facial structure entirely … that’s why she’s got that bloated, chubby look.”

Gaines and his cohost double over in laughter, delighted by his blunt commentary. Peters barely acknowledges them. In fact, despite the viciously critical nature of his words, he doesn’t show much emotion. 

Additionally, he welcomed the women’s rating of him. He listened carefully as they critiqued his style, skin and hair. Most had something to say about his personality, but Clavicular and Gaines dismissed those comments as irrelevant.

If anyone else referred to women as “subhuman” and “Becky,” I suspect the response would be different. But Peter’s unresponsive, awkward demeanor leaves viewers with the impression that he doesn’t say what he does with malicious intent.

Rather, attractiveness is a mathematical equation, and he has it solved. Touting his own transformation, Clavicular knows best.

His internet persona hasn’t exactly been well-received. Countless high-profile publications have done pieces on him — including the New York Times and GQ — all discussing, debating and ultimately condemning his impact on young people.

While I understand the general 30-and-up concern (meth and bonesmashing inciting the most panic), I think the concern is misplaced. Personally, I think it’s far more interesting to examine the cause of Clavicular rather than the effects. 

Like most Gen Z internet stuff, pure absurdity is the primary reason for Clavicular’s virality. But the smooth integration of the looksmaxing movement and its terminology into mainstream culture has a more complex explanation.

Clavicular is the byproduct of a culture we created. A culture obsessed with external validation, fueled by a fear of wrinkles. A culture fueled by the American “grind-set” that teaches people nothing is ever enough. You can always be leaner — more symmetrical.

Social media already ranks people with likes and follower counts, training young people to subliminally evaluate their self-worth by the number of people they can appease and how well they can follow trends. These “trends” often involve how skinny you should be, what hair you should have, what outfits you should buy. The definition of perfect is always changing.

Clavicular says it isn’t. He gives people an out. Aren’t you tired of society telling you what’s good and bad? Here is what perfect truly looks like.

I can see how a young, lonely Clavicular stumbled onto looksmax.org and decided it was the solution to all his problems. Exhausted by the daily battle of trying to change himself to fit in, the PSL scale provided a step-by-step guide.

“Clavicular” is Peters’ idea of perfection. He’s just amplifying a train of thought already enforced by the world we live in — you can’t lifemax until you looksmax.

In a two and a half hour podcast hosted by Jack Neel, Clavicular was asked if he was happier now than he was prior to looksmaxing. 

He said that he didn’t feel he could understand or define the word “happiness,” but the money that has come with virality has made his life objectively easier. 

“I don’t think that anyone will really ever understand me … I don’t really like to get that deep with people. Never have, probably never will … I can’t enjoy things the way low sentient people can.”

The looksmaxing movement seeks to standardize one of the most abstract things in the world — attraction. Attraction isn’t something that can be determined by a scale. That is, unless your relationships are entirely surface-level.

And warped by the twisted doctrine of the looksmax movement, it seems Peters is unable to have genuine relationships. 

If we were to discuss the dangers of Clavicular, I don’t think it’s bonesmashing, meth or plastic surgery. It’s the propagation of an ideology that determines a person’s worth and value solely by the way they look. Relationships are determined by aesthetic equivalence rather than emotional and intellectual compatibility.

But it’s not Clavicular’s fault. He’s a victim of the culture, just like the rest of us. 

When I first started writing this article, I wasn’t sure what I wanted it to be. I began with a very “I hate men” angle, but after spending two weeks consuming Clavicular’s content, I couldn’t help but just feel bad for him.

Yesterday, I saw an Instagram edit. In the video, a pre-pubescent Clavicular shows his swollen, red face to the camera, fresh blood dripping from his temples and chin. He had just finished injecting himself with some mystery substance.

His cheeks are rounder, his eyes are softer. His face doesn’t look as hollow — he looks so young.

“Uh, but yeah — honestly, I’m looksmaxing so it’s fine if I’m bleeding everywhere, and it’s fine if I die because at least I’ll be dead with positive canthal tilt.”

The video cuts to a recent clip of a slimmer, tux-wearing Clavicular being mobbed by fans. He poses for pictures with them, one by one, parting the crowd like Moses.

“Oh, I want to be a kid again,” Daniel Caesar croons in the back. 

It was sad. Never underestimate the power of a good Instagram reel.

Peters was never ugly. He was just insecure.

I found myself looking in the mirror and wondering what I would score on the PSL scale. This whole thing feels so dystopian.

I wish I could shake Clavicular. I’ve watched hours of his content — livestreams, podcasts, articles — so, so many clips. My For You Page is all Stake gambling ads — it must think I’m an 18-year-old boy. 

I don’t want to open my phone anymore. It’ll take weeks for my algorithm to be clean.