#fan behavior

On its own, that sentence is not scandalous. Attached to a video on a relentlessly dedicated parasocial account, amid ecstatic commentary misreading a brief professional exchange by a performer, it is useful information.

For productions, venues, agents, PR teams, talent, and Disabled patrons, it shows exactly how quickly public warmth can become proximity, credential, ritual, and risk.

New essay by Kelsey Maurine Brickl:

Photos of Jungkook at the airport for a private flight? Apparently, that’s not a big deal. Just people reposting, commenting on his outfit, talking about how good he looks. All normal, right?

But the moment there’s a photo of Jungkook and Jimin together at the airport? Suddenly it’s a scandal. A moral crisis. The fan police jump in saying it’s a huge invasion of privacy.

Now, if a fansite dares to take photos of Jimin and Jungkook heading off on a trip that hasn’t been announced? That fansite is instantly labelled a sasaeng. People start calling for them to be cancelled, saying it’s creepy, it’s stalking, and how they’re disgusting for even being there.

Someone mentions the name of the hotel they might be staying at? That’s “too much”, “dangerous”, “violating their boundaries”.

And if there are photos or videos of them abroad—doing anything, really—suddenly it’s: “Have some respect for their privacy, this is unacceptable, real fans wouldn’t share this.”

All of that is supposedly wrong. All of that is where everyone draws the line.

But then… what happens when it’s the other members?

Photos of them at the airport for unannounced schedules? That’s completely fine.

Fansites standing there with their cameras waiting for them during those exact same secret trips? Perfectly acceptable.

Pictures of them shopping, walking around, eating in public, or entering and leaving hotels somewhere in the world? That’s just “cute fan interactions” or “lucky fan moments”.

Videos of them from weird angles or zoomed in from across the street? No one says a word.

People share it, repost it, add filters, make edits. Not a single complaint about privacy or safety.

See where I’m going with this?

The issue clearly isn’t the invasion of privacy. Because if that were truly the concern, people would be just as furious no matter which member it happens to. But they’re not.

The rules change the moment it’s Jimin and Jungkook together. That’s when everything suddenly becomes “too much”, “dangerous”, “disrespectful”, and worthy of public scolding.

It was never about morals. It was never about safety. It was never even about being a “true fan”.

It’s always been about discomfort—people being uncomfortable with how close Jimin and Jungkook are, how often they’re together, and what that might mean.

So instead of being honest about that, they hide behind this pretend concern for privacy and start moralising.

They weren’t upset because someone shared a hotel name or posted an airport photo.

They were upset because it was Jimin and Jungkook in the same frame. Together. Again.

Alright Im going to piss people off here and frankly I dont care, but be warned. If you have or plan to have a picture taken with your favourite celebrity where you could be mistaken for a couple, you're not going to like this post. Instead of getting aggy with me about it, you could instead try therapy.

With that said, photo ops are a fun way to get a little bit of time with a celebrity and come away with a cool momento. I have no problem with photo ops as a whole, if I went to a con and had the money Id 100% do it. The problem is some of the photos fans ask for. The poses. It crosses a line and it needs to be talked about until it stops happening.

I'm using real photo op examples, mainly Supernatural and Sebastian Stan. The fans in question are emojid for privacy, and we're not calling names or being assholes. We're talking about the poses, not specifically the people.

The horrific find had lead to boys obsession with the macabre, even obsession in learning about the dead man and the serial killer 'The Axe Man of New Orleans'

Vincent uses his childhood trauma to become a relatively famous horror writer - in his newest book, he decides to bring to life his decade long obsession with the murderer killed.

I say this as someone who writes too.

don't tell the authors what to do. if you think you could do better than sit down and write yourself if you've got a stick up your ass like that.

let authors tell the story THEY want to tell, we're all passenger on their ships and you better have RESPECT for their storytelling and their craft. don't tell them to tone something down, don't tell them how to write their characters, don't fuck with their narrative. they have a PLAN and many IF writers already have a whole story outlined.

authors don't owe you answers to all questions, especially if it concerns the future plot developments. create theories but don't push them on authors.

SUPPORT authors, SEND POSITIVE WORDS, COMMENTS, CREATE FAN CONTENT PRAISING THE WORK!!!

be nice, just be fucking nice. many creators of IFs work a DAY JOB!!! they don't write 24/7 and you should respect their time/their life.

send authors support, always. don't rush them, don't trash them, don't be dipshits.

by being dipshits, you will make authors not love their work. this is what happened with AMR 2 where the fan behavior was atrocious. don't be the reason an author feels pressured to write their work to fit your wants.

support the creation, support the process, support the person who is sharing their craft with you.

this behavior is something I see extensively in several IFs I read and I don't read a lot tbh. but this has to be said.

I think we all know the real reason he’s currently gone is because he was dogpiled over his statements not being pure enough about the current situation in Palestine according to the Twitter Foreign Policy Experts who thought they’d take it upon themselves to school a 54-year-old activist who’s been watching the shifting struggles of the world for decades. Anyone who’s been following him for the past few years should have noticed by now that he doesn’t take kindly to condescention or insults and he’ll readily block those who try. In their parasocial fantasies they forget that friendliness ≠ friendship and shit you can get away with saying to RL friends may not go down well with someone they don’t really know outside of their public persona.

I hope if he finally decides to start interacting with fans again they remember to show some goddam respect. He’s NOT your buddy. He’s a friendly stranger on the internet.