This is a popular topic on /vt/, I've posted about it before, and I'll probably do so again in the future, fucking timeloop shit, but I've always seen this normie - unicorn divide as a consequence of Vtubers being a convergence of two vastly different fanbases - Streaming culture and Anime otaku. Back in '19, when this was all taking off, I was confident that the rise of virtual youtubers would be a meeting of fantasy and reality, and bring the two fanbases together as they realized what they had in common. Instead, its become a battleground for tribal retards who all have different expectations for vtubers. Vtubers are either anime girls made tangible, a form of high-level character acting, like meeting Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, or they are streamers who have been liberated from the standards of attractiveness and risks of doxxing that twitch culture has created. I used to think these two can be reconciled, not anymore.
Nasu puts this first point better than I ever could, vtubers represent the ultimate fantasy fulfillment, you can literally meet an anime girl in real time! You know how awful it feels to finish a season of CGDCT anime, and it feels like a part of your heart is ripped out as you wait for the next season? Now you can see her every Wednesday and send her money so she thanks you in real time. It's an extension of idol culture, in a way, in the same way that idol culture is also character acting - Look at Momokuro. And yes, frankly, it would make me uncomfortable for a bunch of men to show up in K-ON and start bantering with the girls. Even if I didn't want to fuck them, it would make me feel isolated, alienated, and on some primal level, a bit jealous. And just like rabid anime otaku, Unicorns take this to an extreme. I don't think it's their egos being fragile - okay, not JUST their egos being fragile, the constant fixation on being "cucked" definitely speaks to some insecurity there - but also, like, a desire to preserve this fantasy world. That's where normies don't give them enough credit, Unicorns aren't being petty, because their standards for vtubers is that of an anime girl, not a real woman. And their purpose is nearly fanatical, they style themselves the defenders of the 2D world from the IRL evils of "whoredom" and to them, their anger is justified because they're also the most willing to fund these anime girls.
On the other hand, the normie fanbase approaches vtubers the same way they would, say, Jerma or Dr. Disrespect. Their characters are played up a little, but for the most part, normies recognize these are real people and their reactions as genuine. They're alright with male collabs and even IRL relationships because, like, what the fuck, that's basic human decency. The girls are people, on and off-stream, there's no expectations that they preserve the fantasy at all times, and in fact some of the most fun comes from when the identity is malleable and the fantasy breaks. Think, say, Bao and Vienna's April Fools jokes, or Veibae and Finana talking about sex. The further you stray from kayfabe and the character acting, the more you can lean into interesting, personal stories, and use your identity as a toy that you can experiment with. Indeed, even the biggest unicorns appreciate this sorta thing, think Ame and all her wacky antics.
The tension comes usually when what the fanbase wants and expects is incongruous with the vtuber themselves. Mostly with Hololive, because Hololive's built them up as the ultimate fantasy vtuber company. So when you get someone like Mori, who wants to be more like the latter, fans get fucking mad as all hell, because she's not just liable for herself - she's bringing the whole image of Hololive down. Honestly, I don't know if there's a solution to all this nonsense. What we might see - what we're already seeing - is a splintering of the fanbase into Hololive vs everyone else, but even within Holo there's unicorns vs normies all day just because of how big Holo is.
