Synopsis: You discover an underrated author and became his first follower. He eventually grows more popular, yet out of all readers, his attention is focused solely on you. At first, it feels flattering. Until his attention grows more personal… and more intense.
Parasocial obsession doesn’t always come from the fan.
My Favorite Reader
You weren’t expecting much when you found his account.
Just a small writing blog with maybe a handful of views. A few short stories posted here and there. Most of them soft little romance pieces, the kind that felt warm and comforting to read after a long day.
Barely anyone seemed to notice them with the little likes and views each post had. Even more when the account sat at exactly zero followers. Which felt like a crime.
So you followed him. And started leaving comments.
At first they were simple.
“I loved this scene.”
“Your dialogue is really sweet.”
“Looking forward to the next one.”
You didn’t expect a reply.
But he answered.
Every single time.
Always politely. Always thoughtfully. Thanking you for reading. Asking what parts you liked the most.
Maybe it’s because of how much you’ve been spamming his account with comments that he noticed. But it still felt nice how the author kept interacting with you, genuinely interested in your opinion.
So you kept commenting.
On every story.
Every chapter.
Every little drabble he posted.
And somehow… he always found your comment in the small crowd of replies.
Eventually, he started posting photos of himself alongside his updates.
That was when the follower count exploded.
Apparently, people liked seeing the face behind the stories.
He was handsome, simple as that. Soft-looking, gentle in the way he smiled at the camera. The kind of face people shared around easily.
Within weeks, the account that once had almost no attention was overflowing with it.
Comments poured in under every post.
Some praised his writing.
Many more praised his looks.
He kept posting stories like always, occasionally attaching a selfie to the update. It was probably a smart move. The attention only kept growing.
In one of those selfies, the background looked oddly familiar. For a second you almost thought it resembled a street near your workplace.
But that was impossible… so you ignored the thought. Shoving it to the back of your mind.
And if you had to admit… the face reveal did change things a little.
It was easier to picture the author behind the words now.
And maybe it made the stories feel just a bit more personal. More intimate.
But even with hundreds of new followers…
He still replied to you.
Without fail.
Your comment.
Every time.
It became a little routine.
You read his story. You left your thoughts. He replied.
It was so simple and comfortable, this consistent interaction between you both.
Until one week you got busy.
Work had been exhausting. Long shifts, late nights. You barely had time to check your phone at all.
You didn’t read the new story he posted.
You didn’t comment either.
A few days passed like that.
When you finally opened the app again, you had a message waiting for you.
In your inbox, It was a DM from him.
“Hey.” ”You haven't commented in a while.” “Are you alright?”
You blinked at the screen.
It was… oddly personal. It gave you the chills to know this now popular author had noticed your absence, despite the large crowd of other readers and commenters.
But you pushed the feeling away, maybe he was just being nice. Objectively this small message really is nice, he’s asking about the readers’ wellbeing.
So you replied.
“Sorry! Work has been really busy lately.”
You stared at the message for a moment before sending it.
The second you did, the typing indicator appeared.
He must have been online already, you told yourself.
His response came almost immediately.
“I’m glad you're okay.” “I was worried.”
After that, things started feeling different.
His replies to your comments grew longer.
More attentive.
Sometimes he referenced little things you had mentioned weeks ago.
Your job… Your schedule… The time you usually read his posts…
Once he even joked about the coffee you always grabbed before work. Something you were pretty sure you’d never actually mentioned in a comment.
Other fans started noticing too. It was hard not to notice, his interaction with the other readers were never this detailed. In fact, he hasn’t been replying to the other comments at all.
People occasionally replied under your comments.
“How do you know him?”
“Why does he only reply to you?”
You didn’t know how to answer that. None of it made sense to you either. Is this some kind of loyalty the author was showing for being his first follower?
The questioning replies were starting to increase along with his fame. Eventually the attention started making you uncomfortable.
So you stopped commenting.
Just for a little while, you told yourself. Maybe the attention would die down.
You muted notifications and avoided opening the app entirely.
It was easier that way.
Quieter.
A week passed just like that.
Then another.
And it was already a month before you knew it.
One evening, out of habit, you opened the site again.
His newest story sat at the top of your feed. You clicked on it without thinking. The whole action was basically ingrained in your mind after daily check-ins like a routine.
At first it seemed like any other story he wrote. Soft tone, gentle pacing, his unique writing style. Nothing really seemed to change in the last month you didn’t check in.
But as you kept reading…
Your stomach slowly dropped. Shivers despite the weather enveloped you.
The main character was a woman.
She worked your exact job.
Her schedule matched yours perfectly.
Her habits. Her little routines. The way she stopped for coffee before work.
Even the way her appearance was described screamed familiar. Oddly specific…
Every detail was right.
Too right.
It wasn’t just inspired by you.
It was you.
You scrolled to the top of the page again, your fingers suddenly cold.
Then you noticed the dedication line above the story.
For my favorite reader.
Your phone buzzed with a notification.
A new message.
From him.
You hesitated before opening it.
“I was worried when you stopped reading.”
How did he know you were back? That you just read his newest story? You didn’t even comment on the post, no, you never even left a like.
I’m so glad this community is waking Tf up about the parasocial behaviour that’s been going on, you’re all as bad as those who treated Michael poorly. Quit pretending to be these virtuous people because you’re not.
I need everyone to take a step BACK and realise that a lot of your behaviour has been genuinely insane, let’s start off with jaafar and maddie, the way you two treat this couple is fucking wild, the concern trolling and virtue signaling is out of this world, A LOT of you don’t care about maddies past posts supporting Israel, a lot of you are simply jealous over the fact she’s with jaafar, it’s blatant by the fact all you lot talk about IS the relationship and her appearance and how you don’t get how they’ve been together for so long and aren’t married. The infantilisation of jaafar is also wild, he’s not some poor little boy who isn’t aware of what’s going on around him, Quit acting like he is.
Now with jermajesty and Randy jr, the fact that two days ago you lot were basically jumping these man’s leg like a bunch of horny dogs and now bc they(liked a post????) you’re cancelling them?Are we fucking mad? 😭 it’s insane, so what they liked a post??
This is how ik that as a society we need to hop off the internet because we are too quick to sensationalise and then cancel someone within days.
A quick statement because multiple people have now informed us that anonymous messages containing false accusations and armchair "diagnoses" about me and Blastic are apparently being sent around to others.
Please do not spread these messages further or engage with them. They are anonymous harassment and will not be treated as serious criticism.
Neither of us will be responding to these accusations publicly beyond this post. We are focused on our work, our community, and the people who continue to support us in good faith.
Also, a reminder: internet buzzwords like "covert narcissist," "flying monkey," etc. are not clinical tools, and anonymous strangers are not qualified to diagnose people through Tumblr posts.
Everyone talks about being parasocial with creators in the "I love them so much they're like my best friend way" but no one talks about the equally damaging parasocialism that is the parasocial hater. The person that follows someone solely to take every minor grievance and put it on blast as though it's 10 times worse than it was. The person that digs through every post on every social media site to find anything that could be considered bigoted and then refuses to talk about the creator going forward without prefacing it with "I do not condone" and constantly mentioning their ___phobia or racism or misogyny. The person that makes a blog dedicated to keeping it in the public eye until the end of time, removed of all context. The people that claim over and over and over all the creator has to do is acknowledge and apologize but if they do, well, it wasn't good enough or they only did it because they got called out which is proof they're not genuine. And, if they leave social media, that's actually them avoiding responsibility and causing fans to harass the people who rightfully called them out. The people that have made it their moral duty to stalk, harass, and degrade their least favoruite minor internet celebrity and claim it's for social justice. And much of the time, the abuse from their campagin is worse than anything the creator did originally. The people who, if you question why they hate someone they don't know this much and put this much time and effort into hurting them, they say, you too must be a supporter of the bigotry or actions they committed.
I think these people should be treated as engaging in just as unhealthy a behaviour as the parasocial fans, and it's pretty shocking just how many people engage in this behaviour, even if just passively.
Hey am I the only person who doesn’t think the contextual information that those weren’t fans of Hudson and just wanted to resell the autographs is very important? Like that’s scummy but you know what else is scummy? FOLLOWING SOMEONE HOME WITHOUT CONSENT? People are clarifying this context where it’s not given and people are like “ohhh, that’s okay then! Now that I know the impure intentions of the autograph-seekers, I wish to defend this victim of stalking and harassment!” 😀
Like the discourse is so pointless, I don’t care what your intentions were once you got the autograph, you are stalking and harassing that man.
And the way he didn’t even raise his voice 😭 people are so dramatic “Hudson Williams LOSES IT at a group o—” bro said “fuck” a few times. Are we being fr 😐
most people who know me are aware that i modded for the umcytblr sexyman contest, that got pretty popular, to the point that many of the content creators, if not all, involved knew about it
i never really realized how scary popularity is
until the polls ended, i never ever shared my main account, because the mod team continuously received hateful comments, and involvement in drama that was never ours to begin with.
i got to meet two amazing content creators while working for the mod team, and i wouldnt trade those experiences for anything!!
musithical and pipiesamuri1 are amazing people, who 100% boosted the morale of the mod team multiple times, without even trying
theres a person ive forgotten the name of who spoke for me in piepie's stream chat since i didnt have a verified phone number. i literally will not forget you bro.
anyway, i did end up claiming ownership of the "Moderator Radiator" title, and honestly, it was a happy ending. My small amount of popularity vanished, and things went back to normal, besides the two mods that worked with me that were now my friends.
Answering all of your asks was tiring! But i wouldn't trade it for anything because it was amazing.
i never did an official goodbye like the other mods did, so consider this an extremely late goodbye from your favourite radiator
