Date of upload: March 6, 2026
Stop me if you've heard this one before: you wake up, look at the goings-on in your Discord servers, and your YouTube subscriptions, when you happen across a particular YouTube video. It's one from a channel you otherwise like, and the video itself talks about one of your hyperfixations from when you were a child. Then you watch the video, and something about it just...bothers you. Bothers you to the point where you just have to YELL into the aether about it. Throw in the fact that you remembered you have a perpetually-unfinished website at your disposal, and you have where I'm at right now.
The video in question talks about how Digimon has had a massive resurgence in popularity recently (not going to say who it is because I don't want people to go and harrass them, SERIOUSLY DO NOT HARRASS THEM OVER THIS), and, despite me otherwise agreeing with some of what the video says, and being happy with the fact that a franchise from my childhood is making a resurgence...it's the trashing of another franchise from my childhood, Pokemon, that really grinds my gears.
Now, I know that there are people out there who view the merest act of admitting to liking Pokemon in the 2020's as grounds for public flogging, but I hold those people in very low regard, and you should too. Even despite this franchise's flaws, I still hold a distinct fondness for it, even as I grow older and my tastes expand. You never forget your first, and all that.
But, surprisingly, I also enjoy Digimon as well. I've enjoyed ever since I was in elementary school, with Digimon World DS being my proper introduction to the series. Now, this particular hyperfixation of mine had fallen a bit dormant until around the pandemic, when I picked up the Cyber Sleuth duology on my Switch, and the floodgates of my nostalgia had been thrown open once more.
But what am I getting at with these anecdotes, I hear you ask? Well, dear reader, my point with all of this is that I like both of these at the same time. Even as the two sides of the debate become more and more split, I will forever hold to the mentality of "Holy shit, two cakes!"
And it would seem, that some people don't seem to comprehend that.
Even after all these years of hearing both sides take shots at one another, it feels like both sides have not moved past the 90's in terms of this "my side's better" mentality! In fact, in the era of the modern Internet, it feels like things have only gotten WORSE!
And that brings me to the primary thesis statement of this blog post: Fandom should not be viewed as a competition. It is not something that should be 'won', and to think otherwise does nothing but worsen your own sanity when it comes to online matters. This goes well beyond the Pokemon vs. Digimon comparison, it could also apply to things such as the console wars, or just any inter-fandom squabble in general.
I've heard someone in a Discord server I'm in describe this phenomenon as the 'sports-teamification' of fandoms, and it's a phenomenon I grow ever more tired of with each moment I spend on the Web. The desire to always be in the right because you'd rather that than risk the humiliation of being wrong on the Internet (or even being perceived as wrong).
I know what I'm asking feels like a tall order, being positive just doesn't reel in those sweet, sweet clicks like negativity does, after all. But, next time you feel compelled to tear something down in the name of defending a thing you like, put that energy into lifting up your love of the thing you're defending. Lord knows we could all use more positivity, nowadays.
Sorry if any of this comes off as disjointed or too defensive. Just wanted to get my thoughts out there.
Keep on liking what you like, folks. ~Nicole