>>61169500>Right now it seems like a lot of unspoken rulesOf course it is. All human relationships are based on unspoken rules, and vtuber / fan is clearly a type of relationship. But I'm bored, so I'll try to explain it to you as if you were five.
Let's start with the "girlfriend" part that apparently confuses and upsets you. Let me ask you this: when you read a book or watch a movie, are you literally in those far lands doing those crazy things that are depicted? Of course not. But do you still "feel" the fear and excitement and amazement of the stories, if they are well written? Yes, you do, or you wouldn't be reading / watching them.
Vtubing is the same. Every vtuber is a character, or "virtual girl," usually a combination of 1. an anime trope (say, tsundere girl); 2. some lore and design elements; 3. parts of the rm's actual personality and life (both the parts that come off naturally and those that she is comfortable sharing.) Sometimes the result of all this is a girl you like, meaning that you like spending time listening to her. Don't fool yourself about the "talents": I'm not denying that many vtubers are talented at something, but if you were only in it for the art or music or gaming, you would be watching an art channel, a professional musician, or a pro gamer on Twitch. The reason you watch a vtuber is because you like listening to that virtual girl's stories or struggles and empathizing with her. Even just a bit. (It's ok to admit you do, empathy is a natural feeling.)
Traditionally, when you like spending time listening to a woman's thoughts and empathizing with her, that makes you a couple (unless it's unrequited love or the dreaded "it's complicated.") Does watching a vtuber means that you are literally in a relationship with that character (or worse, with the rm)? Of course not. But do you still "feel" the joy and excitement and even love for what she does? Yes, you do, or you wouldn't be watching her.
As for the lonely people part: if I was in a relationship or married, I wouldn't have the time nor the interest in listening to somebody else (except for my hypothetical wife and kids) talk for hours about their own sweet nothings (zatsudan) or playing minecraft or some other support activity. But I'm not, and many times I happen to enjoy it more than watching a movie or reading a book (or going out with friends.) So the current "epidemic" of people who either choose or end up being alone (for a bunch of reasons that are off-topic here) certainly helps create a market for vtubers. But I would hardly call it "exploitation."
Finally, about the unicorn part: if you enjoy listening to that virtual girl talk, sing, draw, or play games, it's a very natural feeling NOT wanting her to flirt with another man on screen. She can do whatever she wants off screen (obviously) as long as it's kept hidden in her private life. But the moment she brings it to the screen, or is leaked, it becomes part of the character we know as fans, and every fan has to deal with it, one way or another. For example, my (ex-)favorite vtuber recently did a sudden collab stream with a sexpest of a male vtuber, out of the blue. She was flirting with the guy (at least in my mind) and it made me quite cross. So I stopped watching her and canceled her membership. I didn't get depressed or even particularly sad, but I can imagine somebody else having a stronger reaction than I did.
Hope this clears it up a bit. This is a type of entertainment / performative art / para-social relationship that simply did not exist before the technology allowed it, and would not exist without a market for it. But it does, and it brings with it a lot of unspoken rules. Because people on both sides have feelings.
