How I Discovered VTubing

I had always been very, very vaguely aware of the fact that there were people who used full-bodied three-dimensional anime avatars for their online presence instead of "just being themselves", but it wasn't something I ever gave much thought to. It seemed to be so niche, that despite previously being a chronically online teenager/young adult, it was an incredibly rare occurrence for me to see the slightest bit of a mention of VTubers. Either way, VTubing never played a big part or even a small part in my life.

That is, until this year. I was reconnecting with a dear friend when they shared with me that they started livestreaming on Twitch recently, so I gave them a follow and became apart of the monolith referred to as "chat". They happen to be a "PNGTuber" which is pretty similar to a VTuber except they are using 2D models instead of 3D models as their avatars. It was all a new experience for me, and rekindled a part of me that once burned fiercely and was now nothing but a small, easily diminished flame. But, that will be a blog entry for a separate post before I begin to derail.

 A few days after our conversations, I was introduced to the first VTuber I could say I have ever looked into. Can you guess who it was? If you're a fan, I'm sure you will figure it out easily, but they recently collaborated with Fortnite. First, as a sprite that was released on August 4th 2026, and then as a skin (three skins, actually) on September 18th 2026. I didn't max out the sprite, unfortunately, but you can bet your left shoe I purchased that skin bundle for 40 whole bucks! At this point, I'm sure it's obvious who I'm talking about, but we won't be namedropping here. 

Rika admiring her senpai from afar.

When I first came upon the squishy little super deformed version of this VTuber, I was confused just as I tend to be when a Fortnite skin for someone I am unfamiliar with appears in the shop. I decided to give them a Google. The results of my 15 minutes of research kind of blew me away. I was amazed by this person's success story, and even felt a connection to them in a way due to having very similar backgrounds. I hadn't even known of them for longer than a day, and I felt proud of them the way I would a close friend. Despite all of the incredible challenges they had to overcome in life, they pushed through and became one of the most successful people in their field to this day. 

Not only did I feel great pride, but I also began to feel something I hadn't felt in a long, long time -- inspiration. I felt fully inspired. My friend opened the door for me, then this VTuber pushed me through it.

And I cannot thank them enough for simultaneously giving new life to both the artist and the nerd within me.