That time on Spaces (Completed)

That time on Spaces

It's so easy to be social on Twitter. Arthit can log in at any time and catch up on tweets about all his favourite actors and shows and no-one will ever know that it's him. He can retweet and comment to his heart's desire and no-one from his real life will ever know how he feels. It's perfect too, to hide his obsession, because the reality is: Arthit is utterly in love with the famous actor, Kongpob Suthiluck, and he'd be mortified if his friends or family ever found out the truth!

Online, he is @A4KS - a Stan account with Kongpob's smiling face as his icon and a banner made of a collage of his most iconic roles. He follows a lot of other fans and he DM's with some of them regularly. Like @JKS who he's been writing to since he first joined the fandom almost a year ago.

Their DM's are full of fanboy comments and sharing information that they've found online about their favourite actor, as well as quite a few messages about their own lives (all quite anonymous of course). They also spread their wings beyond 'Kongpob chat', talking about other actors and shows they are interested in as well as pop-culture and items on the evening news. Occasionally, Arthit even shares something personal from his own life (always biting his lip and itching to delete it immediately after).

For Arthit, who only has a handful of good friends, none of whom he would ever talk about Kongpob with, Twitter and his DM's with @JKS, are a lifeline.
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He logs in one Friday night to several notifications about Kong's new venture, a YouTube channel he's just set up. Arthit clicks into it immediately and subscribes along with the other 100k followers. It's exciting to see the teaser Kong has provided and he's thrilled when he sees that his first video is due to be posted within a few days.

There's a DM waiting for him back on Twitter, from @JKS, asking if Arthit's seen it and what does he think?

He spends a bit of time on his reply, wanting to get the right tone of both excitement and anticipation for the coming videos and his friend types back to him quickly asking what kind of videos he thinks the star will produce in the future.

They've been talking for a while when he receives a DM from another online friend inviting him to join a Twitter Space. He's never heard of them, so he taps on the link to see what will happen and is surprised when a page pops up with icons he recognises from comments on his Tweets.

He DM's @JKS to ask if he knows what it is, but he doesn't, so he hesitantly clicks on 'Join' and waits to see what happens.

Immediately, his headphones are filled with the sound of voices chattering away. He jumps at the sound and panics for a moment that they can hear him too. But then he spots the 'Listener' written beneath his name whereas others have 'Speaker' and relaxes. The group are excitedly talking about Kongpob's YouTube channel and he searches the page to try and figure out what he's just made himself a part of.

While he explores the Space, he sees that his friend has joined too and DM's him to ask what he thinks they should do. @JKS replies that he's going to stay a 'Listener' because he's never been part of one of these before and Arthit agrees, listening as the whole group discusses his favourite actor.

There are several times when he wants to comment on something a member is saying, but obviously he can't. However, he and @JKS send private messages back and forth chatting about what is being said.

It's really cool to hear people he recognises from his timeline and from comments on his posts, chatting, and he wonders if he could be brave enough to join in.

The chat goes on for hours, tripping between a plethora of Kongpob related subjects and Arthit knows that if he was a speaker he would have quite a lot to say. He's sort of working up the courage to 'Request to join' (with lots of encouragement from his friend), when the Host politely ends the space and he's catapulted back out to his Twitter feed which is full of posts all about the group he has just been part of.