For posterity, here's my experience of how I ended taking sides in the toxic Carrot vs. Yamato fight.
I admit I never particularly liked Carrot. I thought she was bland, boring, and basically fan service for furries. I never for a second thought she was a serious candidate for joining the Straw Hats, and didn't even realize other people did.
On the other hand, from the moment Yamato unmasked herself, I knew she was a candidate to join, and by the time she had a few interactions with Luffy I was convinced it was going to happen.
But I found something strange in online conversations. Every time Yamato joining the crew was discussed, some people would give absurd excuses why that wasn't going to happen. I tried to argue back at first, but found the responses completely irrational, stubborn, and overly aggressive.
Then after a while I realized almost all of those people are Carrot fans who had waged some online campaign over the years for their favorite character to join the crew. They were arguing against Yamato joining out of self-delusion and spite.
These people managed to kill every conversation about a possible future with Yamato in the crew. Look at any online conversation about how Yamato would act as a Straw Hat and you will find bitter Carrot fans derailing the entire thing by constantly saying it will never happen.
We were deprived of many pleasurable conversations because of the absurd jealousy of these people. You couldn't talk to them, and they wouldn't let you talk.
That's how I ended up taking sides on the toxic train.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.