/vt/ - Virtual Youtubers

I just realized that the EN community has always seen VTubers as just "streamers with avatars"...
Every EN side explanation of VTubers starts with them as "streamers". And because that's the core, the audience that gathers to them is those who like streamers and the culture behind them (i.e. Twitchfags).

So they are never aware of the difference in explaining them as "anime girls that stream".
In this definition, the core of "VTubers" is an "anime girl". It's just incidental that she is streaming, and that's not all that they will be doing.
And this has always been the case in JP, there's chuubas like Laplus who likes putting out edited videos but is compelled to stream because that's what everyone else does. Hence all her main channel appearances.
There's chuubas like Ayame, Shion etc. who still maintain a huge fanbase and mindshare even after long breaks because other holos either talk about hanging out with them, they are active on twitter, they are in Hologra, or they are in main channel programs or other holos' 3D lives.
In each of these situations, their "presence" is shown. Even if they don't stream, people still remember them because of this.

Gura was the only one from HoloEN who got famous as an "anime shark girl" and not as a "shark girl streamer" during the pandemic, yet her current audience has been whittled down to the point that the exact same twitch types are the majority of her viewers.
Rest of the EN VTuber scene also views VTubers the same way, starting as a "streamer" first and completely omits the "anime girl" part.

This may be the reason for all the complaints about the lack of streams, because they are "streamers with avatars", streaming is seen as the primary thing they should be doing.
EN are putting out a lot of pre-recorded content, short animations, 3D Streams, collabs etc. (e.g. Kronii's VA stuff, various EN orisongs, Covers, Baewatch, Halloween videos, Valentine's route etc.), but nobody really talks about these for very long, it's always "next stream when?".
The numbers for these events are also surprisingly pathetic considering how long they've had to gain viewers over time (could just be due to the girls themselves never shilling it again as well, but still).

Is this trend even reversible anymore? Can EN3 shift the definition of the "EN VTuber" with more non-stream content?
Or will EN VTubers always be cursed to just always be boxed into "streaming" alone?